Album Review: Unto Others - "Strength"

 

Goth-metal is one of those genres which kind of took off just enough when it first surfaced in the early '90s via the likes of Type O Negative and Paradise Lost to gain a following without ever really breaking through to the mainstream consciousness. Nevertheless, there's still plenty of bands lining up to give it a go and Portland natives Unto Others are the latest to wash up on the shores of Nite Songs.

The touchstones here are the ones you'd expect - a bit of Fields of the Nephilim here, a touch of Danzig there, a Mission style sitar lurking in the background along with a hint of Inkubus Sukkubus. The muscular riffs and doomy vocals on the likes of Heroin and When Will God's Work Be Done could have seen them sink into the sort of elephantine drudge that some bands in this genre fall prey to very easily but there's a surprising sense of melody and an unexpected ability with a decent hook to reel you in with these guys that can't be ignored.

The only thing that counts against them is that when they drop the tempo a bit such as on Little Bird and the overblown Hell Is For Children they can start to meander and lose your attention a bit compared to the more pacy likes of Why (which sounds oddly like a gothed-up Ned's Atomic Dustbin of all things!) or the AC/DC style riffage of Just A Matter Of Time. A bit of a mixed bag then but there's more good than bad here and you certainly couldn't accuse Unto Others of not having a very unique sound. A couple of tweaks here and there and they could really be on to something with this. 

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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