The End of Life

After I heard some whispers about a new project for Vader’s Mauser, my expectations were high. The new project however is something completely different… Mauser teamed up with Aya, a beautiful lady who probably lost innocence a long time ago (but definitely helps the record sales). Upon the first listen I was blinded by hatred for the change of style that was taken, but I had to face the truth and judge this new project for what it really is, a gothic metal band. I used to be into gothic metal a few years ago and I must say ‘The end of life’ is a pretty decent effort within the genre but doesn’t stand out particularly.

The problem with modern day gothic metal music is that there isn’t a lot of novelty to the genre anymore. Quite a few bands have crossed over to mainstream (Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Theatre of Tragedy, Sirenia, etc.) after a career of darker, more atmospheric music. On the other side, there are some bands that stick to the metal side of music (Tristania, Trail of Tears, After Forever, etc.). Unsun seems to have chosen the former destiny from day one, not leaving the option for the listener to cherish memories of a more glorious past.

The music is carried by Aya’s vocals, which are really well performed and bring me to heaven on several occasions. Production is really good (like for most of the bands in this genre these days). It’s kind of a pity that for most of the time the guitars are buried somewhere on the edge of the songs, under a reasonably thick layer of synths and vocals. There are a few nice solos, but for most of the songs the guitar work lacks energy and inspiration.

For Mauser this probably means he’s coming closer to death -in a musical sense- but on the other hand probably closer to commercial success and mainstream breakthrough as well due to the high pop content of the music.

All in all, after a few listens, the album leaves me with a feeling of indifference. It’s quite enjoyable, but there are a lot of bands out there that make similar music and do it a lot better as well.