The Massachusetts band’s third album, III: In the Eyes of Fire, appeared in 2006 under the guidance of producer Terry Date. Unearth fully embraces its footing in a muscular, riff-heavy metalcore where the legacy of thrash and melodic death metal feeds a nervous writing style. This is a guitarists’ record, built for power and motion.
A feast of riffs
The guitar duo of Buz McGrath and Ken Susi is the true star of the album. The solos fly, the harmonies interlace and the riffs chain together tempo changes with impressive ease. This technical abundance never slips into gratuitous showing off: it serves direct songs, cut to shake up the venues and set the pits ablaze.
McGrath and Susi as stars
Tracks like Giles and This Lying World impose a constant intensity, carried by an uncompromising screamed vocal and hammering drums. Sanctity of Brothers illustrates well the balance sought between raw aggression and a sense of melody. The whole thing charges head-down, with a coherence that never weakens and an energy that never lets up.
The question of contrast
The record does suffer from a common flaw of the genre, however: a lack of variety in its tones and moods. The vocals, entirely screamed, deprive certain passages of a contrast that could have widened the palette. Over time, the relentless assault can tire ears less accustomed to this continuous density.
What remains is a fearsomely effective album, arguably one of Unearth’s peaks. III: In the Eyes of Fire wins you over with its generosity, its energy and the virtuosity of its guitarists. A must for fans of riff-driven, no-compromise metalcore, and still hard-hitting and relevant today.
