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Unearth: Darkness In The Light
 One of the originators of the 'metalcore' sound (but I won't hold that against them!), Unearth are certainly a proficient outfit, but sadly this latest release sounds distinctly by-the-numbers. Whilst the band do at least try to write actual songs, as opposed to the common 'everything leading up to the breakdown' approach, they really don't offer anything on Darkness In The Light that you haven't heard hundreds of times before. The standard growled vocals-on-the-verse, clean-on-the-chorus approach definitely feels a little tired now; this wouldn't matter so much if the songs were of sufficient quality, but, whilst certainly not bad, they do tend to go in one ear and out of the other. Some of the dual guitar work (Maiden-esque in places) is quite imaginative, but that's it in terms of musical inventiveness. If you're already a fan, then this album might hit the spot, but others would be advised to approach with caution.
Track Listing
1. Watch It Burn
2. Ruination of the Lost
3. Shadows in the Light
4. Last Wish
5. Arise the War Cry
6. Equinox
7. Coming of the Dark
8. The Fallen
9. Overcome
10. Disillusion
Added: July 19th 2011
Reviewer: Tom De Val
Score:  
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2812
Language: english
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Unearth: Darkness In The Light
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2011-07-19 09:32:57
My Score:
Sadly, it's plainly obvious after hearing Darkness In the Light, that Unearth's position as one of the leaders of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal might be slipping away. After all, these guys helped launch a more classic metal edge to the tired metalcore rising a bunch of years ago, injecting blazing guitar work and a progressive edge to an otherwise tired form of 'metal-meets-hardcore' that so many acts were doing. On Darkness In the Light, Unearth still throws in plenty of flashy guitar work ("Ruination of the Lost" is especially thrilling) and impressive riff-o-rama, but I just don't hear anything overly memorable from song to song that makes me want to revisit this more than a few times. There's a heavy reliance on the 'growl/bark/clean/shout' vocal variance that every band is doing these days, and more so than ever the vocals here take on more of a hardcore style, which lacks any personality whatsover. Normally, the shredding guitar work on any Unearth album is the star, and while there are plenty of impressive riffs and solos, the songs themselves are fairly pedestrian which doesn't help you remember any of the riffs.
Still, Darkness In the Lightis probably leagues better than most of the thousands of new metalcore releases that pop up each week, but unfortunately it won't help make Unearth the mega-stars they have the potential to be.
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