Unmothered from Austin, Texas have released one of the most promising releases of 2012. The band, featuring members of acts such as Lions of Tsavo and The Hidden Hand, brings seven tracks of atmospheric sludge that you definitely need to have a listen to. By combining their sound with influences from stoner and southern rock influences along with their doom metal weight and a black metal edge to enrich their ambiance, Unmothered found a perfect point of equilibrium.
Even the band's choice of samples is unreal. They include a quote from the 1987 film The Prince of Darkness for crying out loud. Now if that is not cult, then I do not know what is. The opening track “Gravitons” with its mid-tempo intro works well into transferring you deep into the band’s music with the vocals appearing through the darkness and cutting in a great way through the music. The southern rock influences on “The Awakening” make an appearance and work fully with the groove that the band is building, with the track stretching to a devastating ending.
The atmosphere that the band is crafting is getting systematically darker. “Solace” retains the heavy groove with the eerie leads coming through the guitars revealing the band’s blackened soul. The most intriguing moment of the EP though, has to be “Dark Energy.” What is surreal about this track is that even though the vibe is quite upbeat, Unmothered are able to retain their bleakness on the music. There are very few bands that can pull a trick like that off.
The intoxicating vibe of “Leviathan” introduces a more primal side of the band. In “Spectre,” with its almost punkish attitude coming forth and once again with a great groove, the band is able to construct their most aggressive moment, with the build up part about a couple of minutes in working great for the song. The very energetic “Trancendor”, with an exceptional performance from the drums on top of which the heavy riffs are allowed to expand even further, closes the album with the unreal guitar playing, which is dropping acid all over the place.
Unmothered is an excellent beginning for a new band. The seven tracks found in here are signs of something very promising coming our way. The EP might be a bit rough but Unmothered have just showed their true potential and hopefully there is nothing stopping them from making all these speculations transform into realizations.
