A lot of bands these days are intent on breaking down what’s left of the flimsy walls keeping genre identities separated, Unprocessed are no exception to that. Consistently outputting technical and progressive music from their 2014 debut In Concretion, honing their craft and continuing to push boundaries for their chosen genre to experiment with a wide array of styles from the pop, rock and metal spectrums. The band have a relentless work ethic that sees them constantly writing and releasing new music if they’re not on tour with the likes of Heart Of A Coward, Polyphia or their upcoming dates with tech-metal legends Tesseract. With new album …and everything in between, Unprocessed are swinging for the fences creating one of the most unique releases this year.
Opening track ‘Hell’ is aptly named, beginning with percussive, disjointed guitar riffs and unnerving synth sounds that suddenly break for a groove that’s reminiscent of Mick Gordon’s soundtrack to a demon slaughtering hellscape. Weaving tech-metal polyrhythmic grooves with Polyphia style virtuosic noodling, underlying tech-death ferocity and soaring clean choruses makes for one hell of a first impression. Following this, ‘Lore’ immediately kicks things into a higher gear with its significantly faster tempo and immediately breaking into technical chaos. Using ambient synths to break up the pacing slightly from the full-frontal assault into more groove laden territory, inevitably careening towards the crushing breakdown towards the end of the track, peppered with atmospheric synths.
Initial single for …and everything in between, ‘Thrash’, melted the tech-metal community’s mind upon its release at the start of September with its mad-scientist fusion of styles and that breakdown. Embracing Polyphia’s pop-centred technicality with an accented vocal delivery, breaking into a chorus that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Bring Me The Horizon project then just saying “fuck it” and exploding into a completely unhinged tech-death furore. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but somehow Unprocessed pull off this sort of manic clash across the album. ‘Blackbone’ fits snugly as a mild breather from the madness, focussing in more on the technical virtuosity of the guitars, leaning on the intricate melodies before collapsing under the weight of another furious breakdown.
““Thrash” melted the tech-metal community's mind upon its release at the start of September”
One of the more notable aspects of Unprocessed is their in house production approach and full embrace of digital technologies for the production process. Their outlook makes sense, allowing the band complete control of every aspect of their sound. Drummer Leon Pfeifer handled the drum engineering and recording, bassist David John Levy doing the same for the Bass and backing vocal parts and Lead Vocalist Manuel Gardner Fernandes taking the helm for the guitar and lead vocal production as well as mixing and mastering the album as a whole. The result is a professional, clean and modern production that fits in step with the tech-metal scene.
It pays off well, whilst some aspects are par for the course for the tech-metal genre, the familiar djenty twang of some of the bass and guitar tones for example, they’re handled very well and obviously work perfectly in the context of the bands music. In terms of the songwriting, at points it feels like the band lean on the Polyphia-esque guitar melodies a little too heavily; not necessarily in a bad way though, they are a boundary pushing and technically impressive band leading the charge in the progressive scene after all, but it is a fairly prominent aspect of a lot of the tracks on offer.
Speaking of which, featuring the talents of both Tim Henson and Scott LePage of Polyphia, ‘Die on the Cross of the Martyr’ is a ludicrous showcase of interwoven melody and technicality. The bridge riff is absolutely ridiculous, the whirlwind pummel of the double kick with a manic guitar and bass riff is jaw-dropping, leading straight into another furious slab of tech-metal aggression and giving way to yet another massive chorus. Henson and LePage’s talents are put to fantastic use with some absurdly impressive guitar work implemented from two of the most impressive guitarists that are currently active.
The cold open of ‘Abysm’ helps itself to stand out amongst the album, with various ambient synths backing up Fernandes’ soulful clean vocal melodies, feeling like being welcomed into an abyss. The gnarly crunch of Christoph Schultz’s guitar slowly amplifies the tension before the band break into a full on percussive onslaught, almost sounding like a helicopter bearing down on the listener. Unprocessed take full advantage of dynamic tension over the near six minute track, slowly building from clean ambient passages soaked in reverb to frenetic battering from the band at peak force.
“The result is a professional, clean and modern production that fits in step with the tech-metal scene.”
‘I Wish I Wasn’t’ stirs to life as a more subdued effort, focussed on a neck-wrenching bass groove that blossoms into the tracks first massive chorus. It begins to mutate as the track continues, quickly getting heavier and gnarlier until the band break into full frenetic tech-death territory with furious speed riffs and relentless blast beats before sinking back into the dirty groove and spacey ambience. Fernandes’ vocals reflect this as well, soaring to clean highs in the chorus and leaning into ferocious roars and howls in the aggressive passages.
Closing track “Purgatory” embraces the bands mind-melting chaotic nature, pulling the air out of the room for the albums final moments in epic and dramatic fashion. Every member is firing on all cylinders, the rhythmic technicality of the drums and bass locked with the complex melody and accented delivery of the vocals. As “Purgatory” continues to build in tension towards an inevitably furious climax, Unprocessed still play with expectations and break into clean passages to emphasise the power of their relentless side before letting the album fade out on an unresolved synth melody.
It’s frankly a little bit silly what Unprocessed have managed to achieve on …and everything in between, exploring and embracing popular elements of alternative progressive music then throwing it in a blender. Whilst the band themselves haven’t technically brought anything new to the table themselves, their attention to detail and care at melding all these various styles in a cohesive manor, whilst remaining highly engaging absolutely works and should be applauded. If you’re a fan of technical virtuosity, head bobbing grooves, big choruses or just fancy something a little chaotic in the progressive music world, then this is well worth your time.