Unothera – Broken

[nyrating]

This EP has been on my still to review list for a while. I did listen to it a few times already, but never took the time to review it. Now that I have holiday I can finally write something about it. If it wasn’t worth reviewing, I would certainly not spend my precious time in doing it. The names in the line-up did ring some bells. All the 3 members played in Dimaeon on the I, Mortal EP.  Ferdinand is responsable for the vocals, Jelle Hamstra for drums, guitars and backing vocals, Janneke Smids for synths, guitars and bass. All three members are rather known in the Frisian metal scene and have played in several other bands as well.

The lyrics are quite emotional and breath taking. The song ‘The Sum Of Contradicions’ is about the death of two friends. One took his own life, the other fought for his, but lost battle against cancer. A very sad story, and this sadness can be heard in every note in the song. That is the biggest achievement of the band. You hear the sorrow, the mourning, the unfair fight against something you can’t win and about the questions and emptiness such losses leave behind. The melodic doom metal makes me think of bands such as My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, but also Katatonia and Dimaeon. ‘Broken’ is the other song on this EP. The other 3 pieces are short piano parts, to glue all together. The titles are Frisian for Autumn, Winter and Spring. ‘Broken’ has a bit more drive in it, the clean and more harsh vocals form a nice contrast. Again nice sad keyboard lines carry the song and add some good melodies.

A short introduction to this band, but one that makes me curious about their future and perhaps a full length album. Just 7 devils because 2 songs are not enough for me to really convince me.

Tracklist:

01. Hjerst
02. The Sum Of Contradictions
03. Winter
04. Broken (Requiem)
05. Maitiid

 

Playing time: 14:32

Release date: 1 May 2016

Label: Big Bad Wolf Records

Website: unothera.tk

About Reinier de Vries 188 Articles
Once a metal head, always a metalhead. My parents thought it would only be a period, but they were wrong. I quit to explain the beauty of metal music to others that are not into metal, because it is something you can't tell in words... It is like explaining to a teetotaller why a cold beer is so nice on a hot day... I started with bands like Accept, Metal Church, Iron Maiden and Metallica in the eighties and I think I will still listen to them when I'm stone deaf and old...

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