The “come-back” EP from 2018 for the first time ever, on limited music cassette.
Black tape with 3-panel j-card.
Limited to 400 copies
When Unanimated graced the world with their new EP in 2018, it was greeted with little fanfare. That’s what an almost ten-year hiatus in between releases (their last studio effort, In the Light of Darkness, had come out in 2009) will do to an already slowly fading brand. It’s true that Unanimated’s first two albums, particularly their sophomore effort Ancient God of Evil, are considered minor genre classics, but three full-length albums over a span of roughly twenty-five years is not a voluminous body of work, even though the band’s 1993 debut In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead cemented their status as one of the originators of the Swedish melodic death/black metal style.
To make matters worse, the Annihilation EP garnered mostly lukewarm reviews and a lot of "meh" reactions, mostly for the simple fact that it is not another Ancient God of Evil, the band’s most acclaimed release and widely regarded as the benchmark of Unanimated’s opus. However, when not comparing Annihilation to Unanimated’s previous output and instead taking it simply for what it is and what it brings to the table, we are actually faced with a very solid slab of melodic death/black metal comprising three proper tracks and one mostly instrumental interlude. It also helps that the cover artwork looks great, for those of you who place value on those kinds of things.
Annihilation’s stylistic orientation reveals itself as soon as the opening drum roll, main riff and freezing guitar lead of "Adversarial Fire" kicks in. It’s the unmistakeably Swedish and delightfully timeless blend of melodic death and black metal that took the underground metal scene by storm around the mid 1990s, a sound associated with, to mention but a few, names such as At the Gates, early Dark Tranquillity, Necrophobic, Gates of Ishtar or, of course, the inevitable Dissection.
Speaking of Dissection, another thing that’s obvious right out of the gate is that Annihilation has much more in common with The Somberlain than it has with Storm of the Light’s Bane. Where the more black metal inspired Storm of the Light’s Bane was the acoustic equivalent to frozen ice winds howling through the northern tundra, Unanimated’s Annihilation EP is built upon the same solid Swedish death metal foundation as The Somberlain was back in the day. The riffs are therefore rooted more in death than in black metal, there’s not as much tremolo picking, the guitars don’t quite have that ultra-raw buzzsaw vibe but sound crunchier and more distinct, and there’s less of an emphasis on eerie harmonies. That’s not to say there aren’t some great guitar harmonies and melodic sections on Annihilation – the one kicking in a mere ten seconds into "Adversarial Fire" is a textbook example of the style coined in the early nineties –, just that melodic lead guitars are not quite as predominant as they were on some of the genre staples falling more on the black metal side of things. Another element used more sparingly than you would expect is blast beats, and the vocals are generally more guttural than the high-pitched shrieks most black metal vocalists aim for.
In terms of individual tracks, there isn’t too much to say as all of them are pretty much cut from the same cloth. "Adversarial Fire" relies more on choppy death metal riffing than the rest, whereas "From a Throne Below" and "Annihilation" emphasize the more melodic and epic aspects of Unanimated’s sound, the title track featuring plenty of blast beats while also slowing down to an almost doom-like pace at around the two-minute mark and again after roughly three-and-a-half minutes. The band generally makes it a point to frequently change tempos, even to a degree where this emphasis on variation becomes a detracting factor. It seems like in every track there’s a moment or two when you hear a really exciting passage but it’s abandoned way too soon and quickly makes way for something else. "Of Fire and Obliteration" is a rather inconspicuous instrumental interlude with acoustic guitars and an atmospheric spoken-word section toward the end. It’s not bad but probably a bit too long at slightly over three minutes.
In all, Annihilation is a welcome and successful return by one of the founding fathers of the Swedish melodic death/black metal scene. It won’t exactly blow you away but shows the band in fine form. If they can maintain it for their hopefully upcoming new full-length album, it will have been worth the more than ten-year wait since 2009’s In the Light of Darkness. Annihilation may only be an EP but it offers three rather long tracks and a very nice black-and-white cover painting, so if melodic death/black metal is anywhere near up your alley there are certainly worse ways to spend your money.
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