Album Review: The Unseen - 'Internal Salvation'

The Unseen are a band who polarizes

their fans opinions. With every move they make, with every record they

create, they experience some kind of backlash. The release of “Internal

Salvation” will most definitely be met with the usual cries of “sell

out” from the narrow minded members of the punk community, but for

those who don’t care about scene politics, this is a great record. 

Prior to hearing “Internal Salvation”

I wasn’t really familiar with The Unseen. Based on the song or two

that’d I’d heard on a compilation and their appearance, I assumed

The Unseen were a straight up punk band. I was pleasantly surprised

that album opener “The Brutal Truth” had more in common with Iron

Maiden than Rancid! 

“Such Tragedy” is a half time

tune that reminded me a lot of early AFI – complete with shrieked

vocals and gang choruses. “At Point Break” has an instantly catchy

chorus hook which is an impressive feat if you take into account how

Mark (vocalist) actually sings. 

The stop start nature of “Right

Before Your Eyes” is a cool way to break up a record which predominantly

consists of upbeat songs – something a lot of punk bands don’t take

into account when putting together an album.  

Album closer “Talking Bombs”

is another stand out track. While not differing greatly to the other

material on the record, the simple but effective guitar lead throughout

the song is an awesome way to close out the album. 

The production on “Internal

Salvation” is something that seems to be copping a lot of flack on

message boards – long term fans feel the band has lost some its bite

– but every song sounds fucking great. The bass line doesn’t get

lost in the mix (a major gripe of mine with a lot of punk records),

the drums are prominent without being triggered to the point of sounding

like a beat program and the vocals have struck a perfect balance with

the guitars. 

You’d be hard pressed to find

a bad song on “Internal Salvation”. Some people may argue that a

lot of the tracks sound the same – and to a certain degree I can understand

where they’re coming from, but at the end of the day, there are only

so many tempos you can play a punk rock song!

Great record from a band of genuinely

nice guys and I’m looking forward to another trip down under! With

the band appearing on the 2007 US Warped Tour I can’t see any reason

why The Unseen can’t achieve the same level of popularity as a band

like Against Me.

1. Intro (The Brutal Truth)
2. Such Tragedy
3. At Point Break
4. Right Before Your Eyes
5. Torn And Shattered

   (Nothing Left)

6. Breakaway
7. Let It Go
8. No Dire