Unearth has been around for a while now. Formed in 1999 and with The March being the band’s fourth album they’ve been around for the start of this whole metal-core wave and been around for the explosion. They’ve also been a bit better than the norm thanks largely to the guitar prowess of Ken Susi and Buzz McGrath.

2008 sees the band release its fourth album The March and there’s a bit of a problem. In the time between their last album a couple of years ago and today, there’s been a damn explosion in this genre with all thought to originality being thrown out of the window and with most bands beginning to sound the same and becoming impossible to tell apart. So now, in 2008, Unearth sound a bit like Walls of Jericho or maybe Walls of Jericho sound a lot like Unearth but any way you look at it, originality is becoming a very scarce commodity.

Case in point is opening song My Will Be Done which sounds like it could have been on The American Dream . The same is true of most of the songs on the album with The March exhibiting the same faceless identikit nature that plagues most bands in this genre. It’s only half way through the album with We Are Not Anonymous going for a power metal feel with some nice guitar leads and The Chosen again showing of some tasty lead playing. The band also have the ability to pull of some kick ass thrash riffs and grooves but these are set against saccharine sweet melodies and come too far apart to save the album.

Unearth needed to make an album that would stand out from the pack and the countless imitators and while there are some new ideas to be found, overall The March sees the band rehashing old ideas and sticking to what’s worked for them in the past. The result is that now Unearth sound just like any one of their thousand lifeless/ soulless imitators.



Label - Metal Blade
Year of Release - 2008