Where does the line between metal and hardcore lie? If there is such a border at all nowadays, it boils down pretty much to the bands on the metal side trying to be more technical and focusing more on the music itself, while their hardcore cousins rely more on raw energy and adrenaline that they use a a platform for their message.
Unearth have always rendered this divide meaningless, as conditional as it already is. Describing themselves as a metal band that was born in the New England metal scene, they have always managed to display more musicianship than most of their peers from the former New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Meanwhile, Unearth’s songs are pumped with insane amounts of adrenaline – something that, according to witnesses, comes out in an even more impressive fashion at live shows.
But what happens when a band like this gets pissed off? An album like ‘Watchers of Rule.’ In terms of intensity is carries a charge that is comparable – for example – to Pantera’s ‘The Great Southern Trendkill.’ By now you must have already heard the pilot single ‘The Swarm,’ so you know what I mean. The massacre of blast beats and super-fast guitars that it explodes with is not a warning shot – but the start of over 30 minutes of machine-gun fire.
It goes on with the gradual fade-in of ‘Lifetime in Ruins,’ goes through ‘To the Ground’ (at moments resembling Lamb of God’s ‘Black Label’ being played faster), and finishes just as intensely with the closing title track. Unearth’s main weapon is their incredibly dynamic songwriting. Where most metalcore bands would put a breakdown, they put a breakdown with a solo on top. Ideas that most thrash and death metal bands would develop over half a song, Unearth squeeze into seconds, moving on to the next theme like some sort of a riff freight train. All of this, at an inhuman tempo, at which it would make sense if the musicians passed out after playing every track.
‘Watchers of Rule’ is like a furious, anger-filled run, after which you collapse on the ground, your body drained from exhaustion – but also purified from all its negative energy. The album’s flaw is that the music never even tries to introduce a different mood. However, it has been a while since more suitable soundtrack for such an anger therapy came out.