Unsaint - Worthless Sacrifice
Self released
Death/Thrash
4 songs (17:41)
Release year: 2012
Reviewed by Bar

Unsaint are a Polish Death/Thrash outfit formed in 2008 that I’m told have built up a fair amount of good will on the touring circuit, and on the strength of Worthless Sacrifice, it’s not hard to see why. This is a very professional sounding four track EP that represents the band’s first foray into the world of studio releases. Stylistically, these guys aren’t breaking any new ground for the genre but one gathers they aren’t really trying to. They make the approach work for them by executing the songs with a certain degree of panache. The old-fashioned song writing is bolstered by a very nice, full-bodied modern production with an enormous low-end that really gives their sound some kick.

Although the band describe themselves as Thrash, in my opinion the style of the EP definitely leans a little closer to Death Metal, but not really in the modern brutal sense. Rather, it feels very much an old-school Death Metal attack, not too far removed from the early Swedish school, calling to mind the likes of Dismember or even mid-period Entombed. Let me just make it clear that those are definitely some positive associations for me to make, as I love those bands. With the quality of the production taken into account, they have a really solid sound to build a style on, if not wholly original.

The songs themselves are generally straight-forward, but there’s just enough variety in the playing and structure to maintain interest, at least for the short duration of this particular release. Poisonous Ground kicks the disc into gear with a thumping drum and bass sound, before a mid-paced riff kicks in and we are introduced to the downright excellent vocals of Łukasz Sawka. His growl is powerful and abrasive but entirely intelligible and it provides a solid cornerstone to construct the songs around. The band efficiently wrings every ounce of groove from the riffs here, which is something they continue to do throughout the EP. The song eventually builds to a nice crescendo, the drums begin to blast and with Sawka rhythmically repeating the phrase “motherfuckers gonna burn”, it becomes some proper head banging material.

The above describes the overall sound of the disc pretty well, but Suicidal is definitely an odd track out. It begins with a very Alternative Metal sort of sound, almost grungy even, with some spoken word lyrics and a creepy atmosphere. Then a Groove Metal style riff kicks in, and I thought the track was going to be a skipper. Much to Unsaint’s credit, however, the song suddenly and surprisingly develops into a solid piece of Thrash with one of the best riffs on the EP. In the end I grew to like it, I suppose it’s nice that they’re capable of thinking outside the box a little too. While these four songs may not necessarily blow any minds, it’s certainly a very solid introduction that demonstrates this band has got the aptitude and capacity to do good things. It has my curiosity piqued enough that I’ll be watching out for a full-length release, whenever it might surface. There isn’t enough to go on just yet, but there’s plenty of potential here.

Killing Songs :
Poisonous Ground, Hedonistic Urge to Kill
Bar quoted no quote
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