The End of Life

Century Media Records is home to many notable bands, some of which I like, some of which I don’t like. This is probably the most eccentric and perhaps accessible label, to the mainstream metal fan at least, I’ve seen in the a long time. Why? Usually, when I take note of record labels, those that I know are home to a good band, I find that they’re usually home to a high number of bands I enjoy (like Profound Lore for example). Century Media stir within me a unusual level of indifference to the vast majority of bands signed to their label, bands like Arch Enemy, Heaven Shall Burn and so on. So when I discovered that the gothic based Polish band UnSun were signed to this particular record label, I felt a wind of change brush over me. If Century Media can be home to a cute band such as this Polish act, then what else are they hiding that I’ve seemingly missed? I must admit that, since first hearing this album, it has slowly declined in my overall estimation. The sheer volume and catchiness of the album, in general, swayed my opinion greatly the first time round but now, well, the catchiness has been largely overtaken by irritation at the image of the band, the vocals and the marketing ploys.

To those familiar with a high number of bands on Century Media, it probably comes as no surprise that UnSun are a gothic band, inhabiting a largely melodic sound with female vocals leading the way although, as expected, there is a generic male vocalist waiting in the wings for his chance in the limelight. From what I can see, reading down the list of bands signed to the aforementioned label, they’re fond of gothic bands, or simply bands who like to supply their audiences with significant amounts of melody, or even symphonic structured music. UnSun, a four piece Polish act, made their debut full-length appearance last year with the arrival of ‘The End Of Life’. As I said, initially this album came across as a good example of gothic metal done right. Now it just comes across as a typical output from your standard gothic metal band who verges on pop/rock to attract scores of newcomers due to their accessibility, shown particularly well in the introduction to songs like ‘Face The Truth’, a song which becomes even more important having heard the direction of the sophomore.

The bass on this song is fairly good but the sickeningly sweet piano and percussion combination give the band a very mixed approach. With ties to bands like Indukti and Vesania, I expected accomplished performances anyway. More so often than not, gothic bands, particularly the European one’s, rely heavily on clichés to tell them how to write their music and UnSun are no different in some respects. I find Aya’s performance nauseating at times, although she isn’t lacking in talent. UnSun like to enforce a few variations on their audience, like the production for instance. It’s clean, but gives the guitars a muggy feel much like fog would do over a gorgeous landscapes, making it hard to detect whether the approach works or not. There is a progressive tinge to the guitar work but the combinational work of the piano and vocals tend to give UnSun a difficult task of bridging the gap between the inaccessibility’s of metal and the accessibilities of pop music. One which I’m uncertain whether they can achieve successfully or not. Although there is a small splice of cliché dotted around this record, here and there, I found myself enjoying this record more than most notable mainstream gothic records, supplied by bands like Lacuna Coil, another Century Media band.

After their last effort, ‘Karmacode’ it seems there is a spot at the top of the leader board open to all bands not just on Century Media, but in the gothic scene altogether since Lacuna Coil are beginning to show numerous flaws in their music and are slipping away. UnSun’s main priority, in my eyes, is to keep their feet on the ground, though with their image and career progression, this doesn’t seem likely. Their egos need to remain firmly rooted to soil, not sky high because, it seems, when gothic bands break into the big-time, that is when their music begins to develop flaws and a huge chunk of their fan base is wiped out. One thing that really irks me with bands of this nature is that the female member is given more attention than the other musicians and usually, this attention has little to do with the music the band offers, but more to do with her appearance. Already one can see that UnSun’s female vocalist, simply named Aya, is controlling the main influences and inspirations of the band.

Perhaps I’m reading far too much into the previous band photo on the Metal Archives page, but female members are usually placed in the foreground of photographic sessions and the female performance is usually more noteworthy in terms of critical opinion. Contradictory to this point, Aya’s performance is actually creditable with much acclaim. At this point, her performance hasn’t quite taken over from the rest of the band, though it seems only a matter of time before she casts a forlorn shadow over them. The guitarist, “Mauser”, is thankfully a very dynamic performer, offering creative structures to his guitar work, along with a number of solos throughout the course of the album. As well as this, there is a very synthetic sound to UnSun’s soundscapes due to the domineering keyboards, so Aya’s performance isn’t the only notable part of the record. Aya’s voice is a bit different from most gothic vocalists, her accent is very much noticeable when she’s singing, at least to me anyway. It adds a sense of authenticity to the songs, and is rather adorable I must say.

The profile picture didn’t exactly contradict the evidence on the record either, as she stands over her fellow musicians, handling the chains that wrap round their necks like a controlling device over their input. Her clean vocals, the symphonic sound and the song writing are what is most clichéd about UnSun. Their style almost perfectly typifies the gothic sound which has immerged in recent years, since the turn of the decade. I say almost perfect because UnSun like to inflict a few changes into the mix. First, the male vocal performance is infrequent. It features towards the tail end of ‘Lost Innocence’ but rarely after that, if at all. To me, this is a positive. More so often than not the male vocalist ruins the appeal of the female vocals, contrasting them with growls that split the influences apart. The guitars provide the only section that isn’t clean, though there is some acoustic work on songs like ‘Memories’ which develops a different sound, a more slow and emotive sound that gothic bands are no stranger to, reflecting over feelings of pain and sorrow, which flows constructively through the acoustics and subtle symphonies that the ever present keyboards provide.

Bass is often ineffective given how dynamic the guitars sound and the effects of the underlying synth work, which is disappointing. I feel with more presence, the bass could have really lit those sadder passages alight, for all to see, feel and envy. The bass is perhaps decreased in presence by the other, notably sad instruments (piano and synths), as well as the production which gives the guitars too much presence. The balance between the instruments isn’t perfect, but for a debut effort, its not bad at all though strange songs like ‘Indifference’ disturb the peace with a confusing electronic bass line coursing through the intro like it would do in any typical drum n bass song. This section of instrumentation stinks of trying to become more accessible to reach a wider ranging audience. Songs like ‘Indifference’ wouldn’t be out of place in your average trendy club. It doesn’t suit the sound or style of the album and is ineffective from the off, despite trying to appear as a catchy, like-minded number. Overall, the album declines in quality the more you hear it. It begins strongly with catchy melodies and a different vocal performance but these qualities are replaced but “what the fuck?” moments, clichés and an accessibility which makes it sound quite shallow.