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Healing
Unloco |
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First tune's got a real gritty edge with a Tool-like verse… Pick a Tool song, any Tool song… but they don't sound like them, instrumentally anyway. This one's a great rockin' opening tune, "Useless," built on lower level depth and clean technique, very produced considering its nature which isn't to say this comes off like a gentle evening breeze by any stretch. Unloco sounds like a Nu-Metal hybrid mixed with Aggro-culture, Hard-Core ambivalence and underlying tunefulness that lends to its subtle charm. Aren't they going a little against the grain however with a name like "Unloco?" Aren't these the days where popularity and a head full of bad wiring go hand in hand? "Clean's" got more of an edge to it but isn't the most enthused of the lot, becoming somewhat repetitious before the final seconds draw to a close and "Naïve" comes groaning its way into the picture and similarly doesn't grab the reigns, rather contenting itself to stay the previously developed course. They do break off some during the bridge, then fade off, vocals turning to a whisper and then the rage… To say Unloco's a picture of health in Hard Rock circles dominated and somewhat diminished by cancerous clone bands that faint at the sight of an original idea, might be to stretch the old cloth a bit but they'll do some surprising and musically welcome things while staying the course of simple Heavy Rock sans samplers and stupefying studio complexities-"Face Down" did it for me with its acoustical qualities with a nearly Southwestern twist as we now may refer to the elegantly dressed gentleman taming the wild bull with only red cape, sturdy posture and maybe a little more confidence than most of us. Unloco's tilted slightly in favor of the extreme with this potent, somewhat predictable and downright "disturbed" debut recording. You might've caught 'em doing "Nothing" for the "Little Nicky" soundtrack a while back and comparatively; they measure up with many of the veterans of the league-Deftones, Tool, Filter… Don't be surprised to hear the-of perfectly sound mind out of Austin natives-expand their melodic approach, streamline things a bit more, and go for an extra degree of musicality while lightening the Grind-Core exploits a little bit like on songs as "Know One," "Less Of…" for their next release. Released by Maverick Records Review by Vinnie Apicella
[va85@columbia.edu] |