The Unseen appear right before your eyes!
Currently in their fourteenth year, punk band, The Unseen release their fifth album entitled, 'Internal Salvation' through Tim Armstrong's Hellcat Records in July. Currently on the famous and highly popular Vans sponsored Warped Tour through America, The Unseen give us hard-edge punk rock that leans more towards hardcore than street punk.
After a gentle intro, the album kicks into action with high-octane screamo-punk with, 'Such Tragedy' which is quite a good example of the band. It's fast and hard with loud screaming vocals sounding a little bit like No Trigger or Saves The Day. The riffs remain quick and frequent and the drums stay pounding in, 'At Point Break' which is a little bit like AFI crossed with Avenged Sevenfold.
As much as I enjoy punk there is something which has always held me back when listening to the more extremes of the genre, and so it's good that there is a song like, 'Torn And Shattered', which although is at a slightly slower pace, still packs a punch, and just gives it a more accessible sound. However the band, who originate from Boston, have West Coast influences sprinkled in with what is like an up-to-date and polished version of New York hardcore, so songs like, 'Break Away' wash over you without leaving much impact.
Let's not forget that The Unseen have a big fan base, and it's largely due to the great feedback at shows and from the earlier EP's that they have got this far. 'No Direction' and the better, 'Left For Dead' has elements of The Casualties, a band who also sing from the heart about social and political opinions, and if I'm honest do it slightly better.
Later on, the onslaught still remains ferocious with, 'Step Inside...Take Your Life', and 'Act The Part', before we have the very good, 'Talking Bombs', which has the potential to be a real anthem song for the band, and then the last song, 'Still Believe'.
'Internal Salvation' is a good slice of punk rock, however whereas other label mates have a tendency to be slightly quirky or original, The Unseen stick to what they know, what they love and what they are good at, with fast guitars, crashing drums and screaming vocals. For me it's not one of the better punk albums of the year, but then it's certainly not the worst. If you like your punk more hardcore than this is for you, but if you are looking for catchy, rough punk, the sort that you are bound to get a guest appearance from Tim Armstrong on, then this is not the album for you.