The End of Life

So yeah, this is a little poppy goth metal band with a cute little blonde singer, but I kinda like it… Hard to defend this, huh?

I realize this is exactly the kind of band that gives people the most material to complain about, from the "female singers exploitation" to the accusations of this music just being formulaic pop or emo in disguise. And it's not that I find Unsun great either, certainly not. But for some reason, I think they are not really worth hating, and, the few times I find myself listening to them, I don't think it is a total waste of time.

Why are they not great yet somewhat enjoyable? First, let's talk about what they do right. I wouldn't call this music true old school gothic metal, but this does have a dark, cold and somewhat otherworldly atmosphere. Not to great lengths, but you still feel it, notably with the beautiful, ethereal ballads "Destiny" and "Memories". The music knows when to be mellow, when to have more energy, and there are some catchy riffs. While there may be many bands doing something better with that idea, Unsun does succeed at playing a (sort of) heavy and dark music with a beautiful female voice over it.

And then, sorry not to use my own words, but there is something to be said about "Narm Charm". This refers to any kind of fiction and music that is mostly ridiculous, cheesy and awkward, but avoids being bad because there is at least one thing it does right or because the audience has a rather high tolerance for cheese. Now, enough theory, time for concrete examples.

Going back to the riffs, they are more modern metal than doom or goth rock, and you might call them repetitive and simple, but you still feel the power in the intros to "Lost Innocence", "Ignorance" and "Bring Me To Heaven". Related to the beautiful female voice, Aya Stefanowicz is unfortunately not a great singer, with her hokey accent and sometimes shaky voice. However, her voice gets a little more tolerable when you notice the contrast with the big, deep-sounding riffs. And she does put some emotion in her vocals.

As for the lyrics, yes, you could reasonably say that they read like "mall goth teenage girl LiveJournal poetry", especially the ones for "Bring Me To Heaven"… and yet, there is something I find quite touching about them. Go figure. In "Lost Innocence", some lyrics are quite clumsy, but you still can feel sorry for the little girl of the song. I guess lyrics like these get much less embarrassing when the music and vocals are emotional enough.

So this is either a perfect guilty pleasure or a surely not exceptional but acceptable record. You can take a few minutes to listen to something that doesn't impress but still feels good. Of course, there would be many other and better not great but tolerable records, or records you could enjoy ironically, but this is one of those I like. Unsun is not the best gothic metal band out there, but they are one of those I'd remember. So do as you like with "The End of Life"...