Unshine – Dark Half Rising (2013)

The underrated Unshine finally returns in 2013 with “Dark Half Rising”, the band’s latest full-length release. Featuring a very traditional and polished Gothic Metal sound, this band delivers 11 tracks filled with lush female vocals and excellent melodic arrangements. Always focusing on a commanding guitar-driven sound, this band reminds us of the Gothic Metal wave of the early 90’s when the songs sounded natural and never overburdened with extreme orchestrations.

The Finnish band opens this album with a very mellow and medieval sounding track titled “Nadja's Wailing About Coming Of The Frost”. After setting the mood with the opener, “The Oath To Wilderness Of Unredeemed Nature” brings the first wave of catchy riffs surrounded by lush keyboards with a very organic and compact feeling to them. Led by Susanna Vesilahti’s vocals, tracks like “Arduinna” and “Spellbinder” are very engaging and feature tons of expertly crafted vocal melodies, reminiscent of early days of After Forever and Amberian Dawn.

With that certain medieval touch to them, “Defender of His Faith” and the royal “Their Hourses Never Touch The Ground”, the band keeps this album flowing perfectly. The drums are quite well crafted and nicely keep everything tight and clean. One of our favorite tracks in this release is the very dramatic “Idyl”, a super melancholic song that is quite Doom-y in nature. The 12-minute epic “Ikuinen Taistelu” is one of those long songs that has a very cinematic feeling that is nicely developed through the track and masterfully culminated.

Closing with our favorite track “Ategenos”, the band culminates a very evolved and elaborate album that shows their musical maturity immediately. As a whole, “Dark Half Rising” is one very solid Gothic Metal release that has that ‘older’ vibe, but still keeps up with current day production standards. Unshine offers over 54 minutes of excellent and mature music that any fan of the band and the genre tired of over the top orchestrations will greatly enjoy.

Label: Massacre Records

Release: August 23rd, 2013

Genre: Gothic Metal

Country: Finland