Search - Unsane :: Blood Run

Pretty Strong Album

Christopher A. Kottwitz | San Antonio, TX | 04/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"OK, so I'm the first to review this album...I've listened to it critically about 3 times. This album is probably hard and angry as anything they've done. And let me say that Dave Curran has the most evil, violent sounding bass setup in the world. There are some classic sounding Unsane songs and some songs that have some new elements. I like the direction the music is going. My reviews don't do the album justice. You need to sample these songs. If you don't want to read my song by song, I'll save you some time. Sample songs 3, 4, 6, and 7 and you will be sold. Overall this album is definetly worth owning, I'll go through song by song:

1) Backslide- This is a typical, classic sounding Unsane song, nothing out of the ordinary for them. It's heavy, but to me its a little draggy to open the album with. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but not a good opener. 7/10

2) Release- Another classic sounding Unsane song, on the more aggressive side. Fairly average, not outstanding. 7/10

3) Killing Time- This song is f**king awesome. Easily my favorite on the album. Great array of sounds from the guitar, The vocals sound awesome, I think its Dave and Chris both singing. Cool lyrics. Sounds a little different than anything they've done. Can't say enuff about this one. 10/10

4) Got it Down- Another great song. Pretty clean sounding, more on the Players Clubbish side. Cool lyrics. Instrumentally kickass all around. Groovy song. 10/10

5) Make them Prey- Dirtier sounding song. I don't know about this song, I'm not really digging it much. I don't like the lyrics much, maybe I'm just not getting the point. This one is probably my least favorite on the album. 5/10

6) Hammered Out- Awesome slow, grinding heavy song with pretty cool lyrics. 10/10

7) D Train- I like this one a lot. It's fast and loud...Get on the f**king Train. Turn this one up. 10/10

8) Anything- Not digging this one. It's a groovier song, decent, but not special... 6/10

9) Recovery- A good song for being this deep into the album. Cool guitar intro. Starts out kinda Rockabillyish, then turns into the classic Unsane sound we all know and love. Vocals sound really good on this one. I like it. 8/10

10) Latch- Bass guitar stands out on this song, awesome. But the rest of the sound on this song is kinda thin. Its ok, not a barnburner though. 7/10.

11) Dead Weight- Cool Lyrics, only 8 words, drags on a bit, but overall, a good song to end the album with. 7/10"

They still have it...and then some.

J. Keeler | Cursed Midwest | 06/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am knee deep into my third listen of Blood Run. The sound is clinging to the bottom of my shoes like so much offal. Disgusting, but strangely alluring! If you enjoy Occupational Hazard, you will dig this. Vinnie's drumming seems to just get better and better. This one really swings. Dave's bass, coupled with the drumming moves this one along like a renegade trucker on a meth binge. Not too fast, but it ain't going to be stopped by your flimsy road blocks and spike strips, or by the cinder block wall at the end of the road. Spencer's vocals are what you want to hear. If anything, his guitar tones are even bigger and deeper than we have heard. The production is crystalline...Tracks 3 and 5 are damn good. Cover and liner notes are suitable for an UNSANE release, and are nothing that I needed to see, but saw any way."

Dude Like Totally Harsh

doomsdayer520 | Pennsylvania | 06/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unsane have been defining underground hardcore and noise metal for a decade and a half, and if you want harsh and brutal music, they're your miscreants. (Not to mention, check out this album's reassuringly gruesome artwork, featuring a naked woman clawing her way out of a bathtub full of blood.) While maturity and experience, not to mention real musical chops, have added some variety and dynamics to the Unsane sound, they're still among the roughest, dirtiest, lowdownest moshpit dictators around. The riffs and grooves on this album are big and grueling like the best of sludge metal, but the clinical, straight-arrow drumming of Vincent Signorelli brings things back underground to the dirty heart of hardcore. As for the songs, Unsane's faster full-on assaults can be a bit interchangeable, but things get especially interesting when they slow things down a bit, to the pace of a drawn-out brutal beating, like in "Killing Time" and "Hammered Out." There is also a surprising amount of creativity and songwriting prowess in the extra-atonal "Make Them Prey" and the bass-driven aggro of "Latch." Even though Unsane are becoming hardcore veterans of the respected elder statesmen type, they can still bludgeon their listeners with more skill, experience, and downright harsh aggression than skatepunks half their age. [~doomsdayer520~]"