CoC : Unanimated - Ancient God of Evil : Review

Unanimated - _Ancient God of Evil_
(No Fashion, 1995)
by: Brian Meloon (5 out of 10)

This was billed as "Dissection-like," and I can see where that comparison could be made, but this is not as good as _The Somberlain_. Basically, I'd describe this release as a cross between melodic black metal (Dissection, Sacramentum) and bluesy rock'n'roll. It's a mixture that really doesn't go together well, sort of like toothpaste and orange juice. Reminiscent of At the Gates' _Terminal Spirit Disease_, but with more extreme varieties of bluesy rock'n'roll, and black metal. The worst part are the guitar solos, which are very standard bluesy rock (is that a wah-wah I hear?), and really clash with the melodic, tonal background music. That said, this isn't really bad if you remove the guitar solos. The rock stuff is banal, but doesn't ruin the disc by itself. The production, playing, and packaging are good, so if you don't mind (or if you actually like) hard rock and lighter black metal, give this a shot.

(article published 8/11/1995)