Richard Sjunnesson, Roger Sjunnesson, and Roland Johansson all packed their bags and left Sonic Syndicate back in 2010, leaving that band practically for dead but taking their talents to a new act that they called The Unguided. Fast forward now to 2016 and The Unguided are unleashing their third album, titled Lust and Loathing, for Napalm Records. Along with bassist Henric Liljesand and drummer Richard Schill, the former Sonic boys haven't missed a beat, still delivering their brand of melodic death metal and metalcore as if it was 2007 all over again. That, however , is part of the problem here; much of Lust and Loathing, no matter how solid it is, sounds like material we've already heard before. The former SS members have always been able to craft catchy hooks, toss in dueling screaming vocals with endearing melodic passages, and throw in the occasional symphonic keyboard lines amid the raging guitar & drum attack, and they once again prove it here on "King of Clubs", "The Worst Day (Revisited)", and the nearly irresistible "Heartseeker". Don't get me wrong, it's all fairly memorable right from the get go, but part of me just feels like "Lust and Loathing is Only Inhuman part two, but 9 years too late. For those who haven't yet moved on from the whole melodic & slightly progressive metalcore scene, tracks like "Black Eyed Angel" and "Boneyard" are going to be very hard to resist, with their back & forth clean/growling vocal styles, can't miss hooks, and raging arrangements.
Truth be told, this is as much a vintage Sonic Syndicate album as anything the current version of that band is doing, so that should certainly interest fans who were following that group a decade or so ago. For everyone else, this is a style that has been done to death by the In Flames and Soilwork's of the world, but The Unguided still bring some positives to the table that is worth investigating.
Track Listing
1) Enraged
2) The Worst Day (Revisited)
3) King of Clubs
4) Heartseeker
5) Phobos Grip
6) Black Eyed Angel
7) Operation: E.A.E.
8) Boneyard
9) Hate (and Other Triumphs)
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