Album Review: Unearth – Extinction(s) (Century Media Records)

Four years have passed since the metalcore veterans Unearth delivered Watchers of the Rule and they’re now back with their seventh album, Extinction(s) out on November 23rd 2018 via Century Media Records.

Kicking off with the lead single Incinerate, Unearth get their new album off to an absolutely blistering start. A crunchy metalcore offering that hits all of the Unearth fan spots from sweeping guitar rhythm to squeaking distortion and aggressive vocals.

It’s a safe song for the five-piece and truthfully, Extinction(s) overall doesn’t take many risks at all. Instead it’s a combination of the bands heavier early work and more modern day melodic output.

Dust and Survivalist follow, both all about raging riffs and thumping drums, exciting stuff that delivers a beating on the neck muscles. It’s on Cultivation of Infection that Unearth reveal a little of the melodic metal side that exists in the album. It’s brief but it works and gives the vocals a little more edge.

Extinction(s) needs these small change in sound because it’s a full on metalcore assault for most of its run-time. A constant pummelling that begins to wear thin as breakdown after breakdown hits you.

There are a handful of tracks in the latter half that fail to deliver though. King of the Arctic is brutally heavy and even has a brief solo but it doesn’t go anywhere interesting while Reprisal’s chorus can’t make up for what is a ‘by the numbers’ metalcore track.

The highlight does come in the second half though with the explosive Sidewinder. The groove hotter then hell and the roaring shout of the title is something all metal fans will want to join in on.

Extinction(s) ends exactly as you’d expect with a groove heavy mix of raging metal and hyper hardcore. Not a bad finale at all and coupled with the majority of the album, what we have here is an album that certainly delivers for fans.

Unearth – Extinction(s) Full Track Listing:

1. Incinerate
2. Dust
3. Survivalist
4. Cultivation of Infection
5. The Hunt Begins
6. Hard Lined Downfall
7. King of the Arctic
8. Sidewinder
9. No Reprisal
10. One With the Sun

Extinction(s) will be available via all major streaming services and stores.