Formed in 1989, UNLORD are widely considered among the Netherlands’ very first black metal bands, if not THE first. Although they never publicly released any demos, their three albums for the sorely missed Displeased Records – 1997’s Schwarzwald, 2000’s Gladiator, and 2002’s Lord of Beneath – stand as a nigh-untouchable trio of freezing-fire black metal incarnate. UNLORD’s proud ‘n’ pure synthesis of bazooka-blown speed and violently melodic riffing reeks of late ‘90s nostalgia but also sounds remarkably fresh today, nearly 20 years after their untimely breakup.
In 2002, with ultra-violent black metal on the wane, UNLORD stuck to their guns and released Lord of Beneath. While its cover hues evinced a mysterious blue, Lord of Beneath was just as fiery as its two full-length predecessor – arguably, even more so! Indeed, UNLORD remained as uncompromising as ever: they knew who they were, and they weren’t gonna change for the scene’s ever-fickle tastes. As such, their third (and sadly, final) album finds a rarely rivaled balance between utterly unhinged speed and powerfully precise execution.
Unlord is perhaps the best example of how an underground black metal band should act. They never cared about a scene, about posturing for immature kids, about starting fights with other bands, or about any other bullshit that didn't involve making excellent music and expressing their thoughts and feelings through it. Admirable qualities, aren't they? The result: excellent music totally devoid of pretense or idiotic cheesiness to impress people. It sucks that the band hasn't done anything in the six years since this album, but at least they've given us three consistently great records to enjoy. Probably owes to more humility on their part and a refusal to release material that isn't top quality, but I digress.
Unlord plays blast-oriented, traditional Euro black metal. The tracks are fast and Satanic without being cheesy, and Unlord are solid enough songwriters to have an individual sound which doesn't merely rip off Dark Funeral. They have a riffing style that reminds me of a more black metal version of Morbid Angel's first album; not so much occult or Satanic (purely, anyway), but more like a group of death knights torching a village and slaying all its inhabitants. If you don't think that's a cool way for music to sound maybe you should go and listen to some Drudkh. The drumming is REALLY fast and brutal and the vocal performance is ferocious without overwhelming the primarily riff-based music. The guitars are consistently great, mostly tremolo in the Dark Funeral mold and with well-crafted riffs and wild, noisy solos popping up here and there. Even the lyrics are pretty good; not amazing but a cut above the average, definitely.
The album has a great sense of pacing; tracks end quickly and there's no filler since the band appears to just write a song just as long as they need to to get the point across. Granted, that point is typically 'I'm going to kill you' but it's a point worth expressing. There's thirteen tracks and the album is over in just a bit over a half hour, so you get the idea of what's going on here: fast, short, brutal songs with no need for self-indulgence. The production is quite nice also; just the right balance of raw and lucid required to make fairly straightforward black metal sound the best it can. There's no overproduction: it's been mixed properly, given a pinch of reverb, and left as it is, just as it should be.
I'm not going to dwell on it any longer: 'Lord Of Beneath' is great and everything Unlord does is great. They're a totally underrated band that the black metal community really should pay more attention to. Then again, I take that back, since the 'black metal community' tends to destroy everything they hold up, maybe it's best that Unlord languishes in obscurity. After all, they're not really seeking anything more.
Sample:
