Unholy, New Life Behind Closed Doors

When you name your band “Unholy,” you have something to live up to. People are going to expect the most demonic, violent, wretched, and evil sound ever. Or, at least, a really good metal band. This quintet from Syracuse, though, is sadly neither. They play is now referred to as “groove metal.” I do realize that we really do not need another metal sub-genre, but too late. What this style consists of is the heavy groove riffing of Pantera combined with the shouty vocals and no guitar solos of metalcore.

New Life Behind Closed Doors has the lyrical theme of the last days of humanity. While the band may’ve written some of the most brilliant lyrics ever, one would never know, because Billy Price’s barking delivery makes even the most diehard metal fan strain to understand what he’s singing. And this is coming from someone who can decipher Cannibal Corpse.

Add in the “at first enjoyable but soon tiring” riffs, and this album becomes one long song. Most tracks have a mid-tempo pace to them with sporadic tempo changes, but after track three, it sounds formulaic. It’s a shame that some of the nice riffs get squandered because they’re driven into the ground — since Unholy doesn’t have guitar solos, the riff becomes the spotlight and soon wilts beneath it.

In this day and age, bands that sound like this are a dime a dozen, and plunking down $10-$15 for this album would surely signal the end of mankind. Okay, probably not, but you may feel like it afterwards.