Conor Fynes 'Magnetic Mountain' - Unsoul (8/10)

Nearly a decade after releasing their first album, Unsoul returned in 2008 with a surprising second album. 'Magnetic Mountain' is an avant-garde metal album in the proud tradition of weirdness demonstrated best by bands like Solefald and Arcturus. Despite falling within the umbrella of death metal, Unsoul prove here that they are much more than that. For what this group lacks in identity and direction, they make up for in creativity and a willingness to experiment with the boundaries of genre.

'Magnetic Mountain' began with me thinking this was another Opeth soundalike, attempting to combine sorrow and melody into the death metal formula. At least as far as a handful of songs on this album go, I was correct; Unsoul sometimes sounds very much like Opeth, and to their credit, they do a good job of creating a melancholic atmosphere in the music with these songs, even if it is something that has been done better before. Of particular note is a beautiful theme that introduces itself halfway through the album, and again at the end. Had this been the only brand of material that Unsoul delivered with 'Magnetic Mountain', I would have still been impressed to an extent; be it through a keyboard texture or strong riff, Unsoul keep their sound interesting and engaging.

Of course, Unsoul deliver quite a bit more than mere melodic death metal; after all, those avant-garde labels aren't floating around for nothing. A perfect example of how Unsoul can be surprising is the track 'Dance Your Legs Off.' From this title alone, one can possibly get the picture that this is not a melancholic death metal track we are talking about. No, instead of the run-of-the-mill, Unsoul delivers some bestial child of dance music, death metal, and Primus. Does it work? I would say so, although the sudden burst of silliness in the face of what was otherwise sincerely sorrowful music is a bit shocking at first, but assuming a decent sense of humour is involved, a listener should at least be able to understand the fun involved. Another more characteristically avant-garde moment of the album is where Unsoul bursts into highly dissonant orchestrations, before breaking out into twitchy symphonic metal that sounds a glimmer away from avant-metal darlings uneXpect. In a way, Unsoul's avant stylings feel a little derived at times, but what makes 'Magnetic Mountain' so great is the fact that they are able to execute this different death metal styles so well. I get the impression that Unsoul isn't quite sure what they want their niche to be, but as far as this album goes, it works quite nicely.