The Demo Review:
Shadows of the Unseen There are currently 1 Reviews of this Demo.
Average Rating: 3
Band Name: Shadows of the Unseen
Demo Title: Shadows of the Unseen
Band Members: Aaron - Vocals, Ryan - drums, Josh - guitars, Josh (another one) - guitars, Paul - Bass.
Location: Dartmouth, MA
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    • Blind's Review:
    I met the vocalist (known only as "Aaron") of this band a few weeks ago when he asked about the Skinless shirt I had on. A fan of Skinless... in this sorry city? Interesting. He offered me his demo, and I am here to review it.

    The first thing that struck me about this band was the production. It isn't very good. It sounds like a non-studio job. I have heard worse, however--much worse. Still, in some parts of this, one can barely hear the bass drum--actually in most of it--and the bass guitar is almost inaudible.

    What shined in the production--and in the rest of the demo--was the vocals. The shrieks sound a hell of a lot like Chuck Schuldiner (Death, Control Denied), but in more of a metalcore way. I could also see comparing them to Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, The Great Deceiver, The Crown).

    The music on this demo is... okay. It's thrashy and seems to have an American death metal influence. But, it's marred heavily by the poor production. None of the songs struck me as revolutionary; they're just average, but certainly not bad. (Quite honestly, the vocals carry the album.) I believe that this is because Shadows of the Unseen is a very young band. They are also having lineup problems. Obviously, it's harder to write music when the group has to keep introducing new members.

    Highlights of the tracks include the very Judas Priest-like introduction to track 5, "Journey into Insanity," and track 4, "Repent," in its entirety--especially the death metal like growls that are sporadically placed.

    My final opinion: if Aaron had better songwriting and studio production backing him, he would most likely go places in the underground metal scene. Still, I don't want to be too harsh. This band needs what most undeveloped bands need--time, experience, and member stability. I look forward to hearing and reviewing a full release sometime in the future.
    3 out of 5

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