"I am undefined, in between blurring lines", sings Steve Moore in the chorus to 'My Resignation'. It's a fitting description of his band The Unravelling, a Canadian act who reside somewhere out on the frontier of alternative/progressive rock/metal.
The band as a recording entity is essentially comprised of two men, vocalist Moore and multi-instrumentalist Gustavo de Beauville, and their debut album '13 Arcane Hymns' was released in May 2010. The full album is currently available from the band's website as a free download.
13 Arcane Hymns Track List
- Move Forward Until You Are Dead
- Becoming Chaos
- Fire Breather
- Open Skull
- Last Rights Protest
- Revived
- Unscripted Disclosure
- In The Safe House
- Where Will It End?
- Disconnect-Connect
- My Resignation
- Arjuna
- Victory Song
"Move Forward Until You Are Dead" could act as a mission statement of the band, and the song itself is a thunderous statement of intent. It's propelled by the powerful riffs and guitar work of de Beauville, and the diverse vocal styles of Steve Moore; he can segue perfectly from a guttural roar to a melodic croon as effortlessly as the band wander across the supposed 'boundaries' of genre.
Diverse Styles of The Unravelling
Across the board there's little respite to be found on this album; even the breaks between songs are extremely short, reflecting the relentless and progressive sound of the tracks themselves."Last Rights Protest" is one of the heaviest, most brutal songs on the album, with de Beauville crafting a chugging riff at high speed while Moore stretches the more guttural side of his vocal repertoire. This is the more intense, head-banging side of the band; as alluded to earlier, however, The Unravelling are by no means a one-trick pony.
Songs like "Revived", "My Resignation" and "In the Safe House" showcase the band's ability to write a catchy melody and chorus as well as a thunderous riff, with Moore proving equally effective at clean melodic singing as with more extreme styles. "Arjuna" and closer "Victory Song" also focus more strongly on melody than aggression, the latter in particular building to an epic climax; there's a sense of real passion behind the music, which actually serves to ramp up the intensity of the sound all the more.
"My Resignation" is perhaps the standout track on the album, where each of the band's varied approaches is on top form; there are driving riffs, technical guitar breakdowns, passages of solid, head-banging thrash, anthemic choruses, epic vocal melodies...everything, essentially, that The Unravelling excel in.
The band attempt quite a number of styles in what is a very ambitious album - especially considering it's their first effort - but by and large manage to pull them off with aplomb. This diversity is something which adds a certain edge, and makes the album that bit more interesting to listen to over and over again.
Comparisons to Tool
Although The Unravelling are a band difficult to pin down or pigeonhole, perhaps the most obvious inspiration behind their music is Tool, which can be fairly clearly heard in numerous songs. Maybe it's similarity in Moore's vocal style to that of Maynard James Keenan (by no means faint praise in itself!), or the progressive bent behind the song-writing, but songs like "In The Safe House" beg immediate comparison to the Californian masters of alt-prog. Bringing to mind one of the prime exponents of the genre can't be a bad thing at all, though, and it shows the illustrious heights to which The Unravelling aspire.
There's no doubt that this album won't please everyone - it is after all distinctly progressive, with an outright refusal to compromise or pander to any particular style - but the sheer number of approaches that the band attempt and experiment with means that most fans of metal and alternative music should find at least one thing enjoy here...and those with a taste for more experimental music might well have discovered a new favourite.
'13 Arcane Hymns' is all in all a very solid debut effort, and a fitting introduction to The Unravelling. This is a band who can combine the alternative stylings of Tool with the adventurousness, ambition and refusal to compromise of The Dillinger Escape Plan; if there's any justice in the world of music, then '13 Arcane Hymns' is just the beginning of something big for The Unravelling. And if this effort is anything to go by, then the band won't settle for anything less - they will move forward until they are dead.
Philip Sim - Philip Sim is a trainee journalist based in Aberdeen, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Dundee in 2009 with an honours degree ...
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