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Unexpect - _We, Invaders review




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Reviewer:
9.8

54 users:
8.06
Band: Unexpect
Album: _We, Invaders
Release date: 2003


01. Novaë
02. ro0ted shaDows
03. In Velvet Coffins We Slept
04. chroMatic ChiMera

Prepare to enter the next phase in Metal, brace yourself and quickly grab onto something, because whoever listen to this band is going to be blown away in a second, Unexpect is the name of the bomb, and they're ready to unleash their fury upon the whole wide world, prepare to enter the Unexpect dimension.

How do I begin to describe this band? You would get it if you had watched me when I first listened this Ep, the looks on my face said it everything, but if I must put this in words, Unexpect sounds like an strange brew of Gothic/Avantgarde/Black/Folk/Power
/Melodeath/Thrash/Electro/Jazz Metal, yes, some might say that this is too much, and they have many ideas in just one song, but the craziness is one of the aspects that I love about this band, each song makes my skin shiver with excitement, not knowing what's next.

Only a 4 track Ep, is what we got this time from this Canadians, and only 3 "real" songs because the closer is only a piano instrumental.
"We, Invaders" starts with "Novae" a song that describes perfectly what the band is trying to do, starts with a rather long atmospheric intro, then some keyboards make an appearance, and then they unleash all the fury, fast drumming patterns, aggressive shrieked vocals, some violins and female vocals in the back, then the choir enters the arena, giving a very Gothic á la Therion touch. As the song continues, it evolves into different stages and forms, it got atmospheric parts, blast beats, groovy parts, violins, some will find it plain weird, I found it unpredictable.

Next is "Rooted Shadows" and this one is even stranger. Starts really calm, with the female vocals on top, singing and enchanting with it's melodious harmonies, but some short Black Metal outbursts break the harmony, until the song fully reveals itself, the choirs appear again, but suddenly things stop. A violin solo enters, and then this folk middle-eastern/Gypsy rhythm appears out of nowhere even with some tribal percussion, after the Folk interlude is over (reminded me of Orphaned Land for a while) the song resumes it's habitual pace, if there's anything like that with this band.

"In Velvet Coffin We Slept" is a remake of one song of their 1999 self-released debut album "Utopia" , the song starts with a violin solo, and it develops as a much "common" song, much in the vein of the Power/Death Metal of Children Of Bodom. Last but not least is "Chromatic Chimera" a piano instrumental, nice, but I would preferred another song though.

This is a unique release in every way, the song arrangements, the musicianship and the creativeness at songwriting is brilliant, the whole art and package design is beautiful and freaky at the same time, like the music contained inside.
Unexpect is a band that is trying to push boundaries, and until now they're are succeeding in such endeavor, this Ep is only a small peek of what this guys can do with the proper support. Sadly I got to hear "We, Invaders" this year, because if I had listened when it was released this would have gone to my Top 10 list albums of the year. Be ready for a full length very soon, I know I'll be waiting.

Written by Undercraft | 14.02.2006




Comments

Comments: 1   [ 2 ignored ]   Visited by: 56 users
04.06.2009 - 04:25
Rating: 8
Uller

Yes, Also a great band, they are crazy as a cow
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