Better late than never! Quintessence has allready been live since May this year, but I didn’t have time to review it properly until now. Two years after their latest release, I am glad to see these guys are still alive and kicking (and even harder than before!). And with allready over 9000 streams on Spotify, I know I’m in for a great song.
About the band
The Unslain have been around for a while. The four-piece modern metal band based in Nijmegen has been around a while and even won the audience price in the Metal Battle in 2019. They combine modern metal with riffs inspired by the 80’s, and create a unique but mostly, heavy blend of metal. Headbangable riffs for sure.
The Unslain – Quintessence
Their latest release Quintessence tells the story of ancient scientist who believed that all matter was built up of only 5 elements and relates this to our current world-view, which is bound to also not be 100% correct. The different time signatures add to the worrying feeling that something is not right, as is further explained in the lyrics:
Man has closed its eyes, assuming what they know is right
But time and time again they are proven wrong, by someone who has seen the light
Their track ‘The Unslain’ was more oldschool metal, riff and vocal wise. The band has moved in to a new direction with their latest release. The sound is heavy but a lot more melodic. The song starts with 5/4 beat, an epic an melodic intro, quickly combined with blastbeats and a growly vocal. The chorus really reminds me of ‘Watch the World Burn’ by Trivium. Growly vocals and clean parts are mixed with more ‘spoken word’ parts. At 2.10 you find a guitar solo that could also have been on an 80’s record. Luckily for me that changes quickly (since I’m not really a fan of old school metal). At 2:30 the song jumps in, for me, the best part of the song: fast black metally goodness, with breakdown you’d expect with djent bands. More of that in the next release please <3
I can’t wait what this band comes up with next !
The Unslain page on MetalFromNL
Listen to the song:
