UNKNOWN

From the Commonwealth of Virginia, the location of Woodbridge to be more exact, comes the return of that which cannot be named… anything but UNKNOWN!

With a long-running history in the metal dense underground of their home state, the band’s origins date back to at least 1999. After their formation, UNKNOWN spent several years honing the band, their music, their live shows, every aspect of importance. In the early 2000’s, they would take to the roads of the eastern U.S. after countless live shows at home with numerous established national acts. Then, in 2009, the band decided to take a short break, with members eventually going on to work in other bands and projects as the break became a lengthier hiatus.

In recent times, the band reactivated and with the arrival of 2019, UNKNOWN marks this year as the band’s 20th anniversary, the right time to make moves again. Move they have too, as vocalist Steve Moss, guitarist Kevin Walker, drummer Mike Daniel, and bassist Chris Gilchrist announced the unleashing of the four-song ‘New Beginnings’ EP.

Accompanying it is their recently unveiled video for one of its tumultuous tracks, “Serpent’s Lullaby“, the second video offered from the recording after “Vicious” premiered in March.

The metallic output of UNKNOWN is nowhere remotely as vague as the band’s name implies, for it is a full-on assault of southern groove imbued, aggressive contemporary metal. There are melodic thrash elements channeled in the onslaught of assailing guitar, abusive rhythms, and decimating drums that deliver the goods here. The vocals are a straight up, relentlessly hostile heralding of hatefulness given a voice and going to town with it. Am I painting you a visible enough image of just how pugnacious and powerful the audio output of UNKNOWN is?

Check out the ‘New Beginnings‘ EP from UNKNOWN here, along with the pair of official videos from it. - Riff Relevant- Pat Whitaker

Unknown
Brutal Metal Gods do it once again with their self-titled EP “Unknown” as they thrash through a world of crappy music with their new release. Riveting vocals sear your cranium with goodness and the bass and lead guitar synchronize in metal mayhem. Delicious drums back it all up as combined they produce one of the greatest metal EPs in ages. In “Pestilent Effect” they slay you with all that is metal in this great speedcore jam sure to have you smashing shoulders with whoever is in the car with you as you drive down screamo highway, my favorite boulevard. “Serpents Lullaby” is a nice little ditty not fit for Dragon Trainers and a tad slower than the rest. Its soothing vocals make you yearn for unicorns and puppies, as long as you hold the bloody axe of annihilation. “Self-Inflicted” starts out with some weird noises, which I always like, then goes into the creepy distorted guitar and right into a well-mixed jam. More controlled chaos from lead singer Steve M., backed by Kevin W. on guitar, Chris G. on bass, and Mike D. on drums. Another beautiful metal anthem by some very talented musicians who meld together like alloy. Proving that steel sharpens steel, they build off of one another and continue to grow with each performance. The song ends with some more weird noises which I really appreciate. “Vicious” winds out the quartet of songs on this already epic must-have EP with a 6 ½ minute diatribe into all that is beautiful about the soothing genre of modern metal. I see metal different than most, when I am really pissed off, a good screamo calms me down and settles my nerves. Consider UNKNOWN better than any psychiatrist, and go buy it now. Unknownkicksass.com - The Beach Sider Resident- Fursey O’Veebee