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Since their debut album Season of Seance, Science of Silence, Unearthly Trance, has been a rather respected act that managed to pull together a very heavy sound by mixing together Doom Metal and Sludge Metal nicely. However, many would argue that all their full-lengths are great releases, but often fall just short of being flawless. Well, all of those preconceptions are about to change with the band's aptly titled fifth full-length effort, V. This release is easily one of the heaviest, almost burdening albums by Unearthly Trance, and also one of the most impressive for the Doom and even Sludge Metal communities. If you're a fan of the band, this album is basically what you have been listening for, but if you haven't been, prepare to become one. Right off the bat with this release, Unearthly Trance hammer away at the listener with music that comes at you with a very slow pace, but the music packs enough of a punch that it could easily leave the listener in a crumpled mass if music could actually cause physical pain through typical speakers. "Unveiled" lasts about seven minutes, and will quickly become one of the most listened to songs off the album, as everything about the song flows nicely together and creates an overall atmosphere that could only be described as crushing thanks to the heaviness of the instruments, as well bring on a feeling of loneliness or despair as well, which simply makes this song all the more addicting. Tack on that at no point does this song even begin to sound repetitive, and you have on hell of a starting track to this opus. While "Unveiled" makes for a fantastic opening track, it is, sadly, one of the few to carry the feeling of loneliness or despair. The rest of the album continues to come at the listener with the same crushing heaviness thanks to the dismal riffs being played, as well as the distortion untilized with them, but there are key moments where things will seem to chang up. The following track "The Horsemen Arrive in the Night" is a prime example. The song itself doesn't necessarily move at that slow a pace, and also features a small section where the pace of the song picks up, and comes off more as a typical Sludge track then anything else. Sadly, this takes away from the bite, but the song is still an enjoyable track from start to finish, though, in the end, you seem to reach the closing of the song faster then some of the slower paced tracks, regardless of it having a shorter track length then many of the other songs here. "The Tesla Effect" manages to prove this nicely, as the song comes off more wiht a slight Stoner composition to it, but due to that and the slower pace the music is being played at, this track's overall dismall atmosphere causes the song to seem to go on much longer then "The Horsemen Arrive in the Night", or any of the other faster tracks, though this song isn't quite as impressive as many others on the release thanks to it's slow chugging nature that doesn't necessarily seem to go anywhere at times. Aside the more chugging nature of "The Tesla Effect", there's not many negative points to this release at all. "Sleeping While They Feast" is a fantastic song that has music that can almost be considered an "epic" sound for this style near the end, making for a fantastic closing to the song, but the main approach to the track is a little confusing as it comes off having more of a Hard Rock influence in the overall Sludge sound then anything, especially with the vocals. While much of V's vocals are performed as a rhaspy shout, this track features vocals that are more of a cleaner rhaspy style that are done at a louder volume then one would expect on a Thrash album. While this performance comes off energetic, one of the main draws to this release is the equally heavy vocal approach that compliments the music, and the aforementioned edgy shouting, as well as the deeper, more gutteral-oriented vocals that appear throughout, such as during the phenomenal and atmospheric track "Submerged Metropolis", really make the album work. Sadly, "Sleeping While They Feed" has plenty of great moments, but also some that don't show off the band's talent all too well. The only track some listeners may wind up being on the fence about is "Physical Universe Distorts". This song is undeniably heavy, keeping with the feeling of a physical burden upon the listener, as well as a somewhat desolate feeling, this song relies solely on a simple chord being played and being allowed to ring out, with some ambient noise going on in the background, almost to set off a kind of cosmic feel to the track. About half way through, the song does have a brief moment where it is more then one chord played, actually six in a row with accompanying drums before ringing out and going on it's path as normal with vocals kicking in shortly past the half way point, as well as drums joining that single guitar note being played. While it may just be one note here and there making up a majority of the song, it relies heavily on the ambience to push it forward, and it works out well, bringing this track up to the likes of the starting track "Unveiled" in it's intensity, however it's not as repeat worthy in the long run. However, it does make for a fantastic stand alone song, though it seems to end too abruptly, and brace the listener for the intense and, given the pace and music being played on this release, rather complex sounding "Into a Chasm", which starts off small, but quickly blindsides the listener. V makes for a fantastic album that shows how well Sludge and Doom can be meshed together. Outside of a few instances that don't really come off as gripped as the rest of the album, this Unearthly Trance release is, by far, one of their most superior releases. With various atmospheres at work through much of the album, as well as a good focus on ambience at key moments, this composition will keep you listening through all of the nearly sixty minutes of heavy, slow paced carnage that come your way, drawing you back for repeat listens from start to finish no matter what your take on this act is. While this band isn't quite a name on the lips of many in the metal community, there is no denying that V will bring Unearthly Trance into the spotlight, and make them a group that many of the band's style of choice will not soon forget if they have never heard the name already. |
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