Unearth

With all the hype surrounding this one, I was expecting it to give me a minor epiphany, or at least kick a lot of ass, but The Oncoming Storm falls short. Now, no doubt about it, Unearth rock: their mix of hardcore, Gothenburg metal, Maiden allusions, and modern metalcore sounds really good when The Oncoming Storm is turned up loud, and that counts for a lot. Trouble is, with the competition being so stiff, and with everything being done already that can be done within the confines of what bands like this are doing, Unearth end up sounding like the new breed of nothing much in particular. While the tunes are solid, the guitar riffs smokin’ (these guys got some fast fingers!) and the production (care of busiest guy in the world, Adam Dutkiewicz) perfect, there’s just not enough happening here to make the hype stand up to the album. The Oncoming Storm may not break down any barriers, but seeing as how that’s an incredibly hard thing to do within heavy music today, best I just shut up and let the music do some (mild) ass-kickin’. The band’s bio calls this the best metal album since Metallica’s debut, but between the typos and the hyperbole, all I can do is sigh. I’m sure the band cringed as hard as I did upon reading that.