Unearth can easily be considered a seminal band in the early wave of 90’s metalcore, and are often spoken with the same level of importance to the scene as bands like Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, August Burns Red, Darkest Hour, etc. The Boston metalcore act has been churning out records since 1998 and has had an illustrious career spanning over 25 years! Not to be simply left resting on their laurels, Unearth is back with their eighth record, The Wretched, The Ruinous.

I was heavily invested in early Unearth, particularly The Oncoming Storm and III: In the Eyes of Fire which were key to my formative entry into the metalcore world in the early 2000s. Truth be told, Unearth was yet another band that fell to the wayside owing to the sheer cascades of new content in our era of hyper-consumption, as well as my tastes moving beyond myspace metalcore. Curiosity towards the current state of Unearth nudged me towards reviewing The Wretched, The Ruinous, and it would also serve as a case study to provide some commentary on the longevity of “classic” tropes in the genre and how well these older tropes hold up when current trends have moved in other directions.

The opening moments of the album opener, and title track “The Wretched, The Ruinous” is a firm thesis defense that Unearth still packs just as much punch as they did in the early 2000s, and they still have the ability to put out a quality product in their flavor of metalcore. Unearth’s brand of metalcore have always been drawn more towards the thrashier side of metalcore with catchy riffs with an emphasis on creating and holding a melody, along with lightning-fast solos, and crowd-killer breakdowns! Tracks like “Eradication” have melodic choruses that have much replay potential, as well as hard-hitting breakdowns that are frankly invigorating. Unearth is no stranger to playing with tempos and controlling the vibe that goes along with pacing as heard on their single “Mother Betrayal”. “Invictus” is this record’s “Zombie Autopilot” when it drops us right into a guitar solo as an opening arrangement. This track is also a reminder that Unearth also has breakdown callouts that can be so “tough guy” that they border on goofy, but in a wholesome way!

New to me was the sheer brutality that Unearth was capable of on The Wretched The Ruinous. “Dawn of the Militant” has a central riff that is just coked on that thrash metal kick. When they lean heavily into their thrash metal roots, Unearth resembles Sylosis and Darkest Hour, albeit on seven strings. The preference to stick to standard-tuned guitars cause these bands to have a very similar sound, which can be quite different from the de facto rule that –core bands have to write in drop tunings, no matter the number of strings. The inclusion of the “emergency broadcast message” sample clip to slice into their breakdown on “Dawn of the Militant” was also cheesy as all heck but still added just enough flair to stand out in a record full of potentially interchangeable breakdowns. In contrast, the instrumental “Aniara” is among the most beautifully crafted yet reasonably simplistic interludes in recent metalcore memory. I was glad that they hint at a similar melody on the next track “Into the Abyss”, the chorus of which is expansively melodic with nearly cinematic quality, with what could be the hint of clean vocals, something that Unearth has religiously stayed away from, thereby also breaking the malaise that always seems to dog the genre.

Sadly, all the tracks on The Wretched The Ruinous aren’t winners. Aside from a few tracks that get lost to listener fatigue, there is one track that I found particularly egregious. “Broken Arrow” leaned too heavily into the Thrasher/Affliction-core with its tough-guy sensibility which can be associated with bands like Five Finger Death Punch. Though they tried to include more southern rock influences into this track, this track felt jarring and half-assed to me and brought down my reaction to the entire package.  Thankfully album closer “Theater of War” moves towards a more classic-hardcore aesthetic laced with the trademark Unearth tasty melody which went a long way to palette cleanse and end the record on a high note.

The two founding members of the Unearth roster are the keystones of the Unearth sound. Guitarist Buzz McGrath has been the major songwriter since the band’s inception. His thrash metal roots are evident in the way he arranges his riffs and chooses his melodies. His classic metal influences also cut through in how traditional his guitar solos are crafted, relying on sheer guitar skill without relying on fancy production or studio magic tricks. This is the first record without the influence of rhythm guitarist Ken Susi who moved away from Unearth to tour with and later become a permanent member of another household name in the scene, As I Lay Dying. The other member that is associated with the traditional Unearth sound is vocalist Trevor Phipps. His barked vocals have become synonymous with Unearth and his skill to weave live breakdown callouts into his lyrics are among the best in the game.

The two major bones of contention I have with The Wretched The Ruinous are the production as well as the potential of longevity in the present genre context. First off, the production on The Wretched The Ruinous came off as particularly harsh to my ears. I want to chalk this up to the reviewer copy being overcompressed or sent out at a lower quality, but the overall mix of this record was equal parts muddy and harsh. It seems apparent that the producer intended to eschew modern metalcore hyper synthetic mixes and offer something more raw, traditional, and “authentic” as a throwback to the heyday of myspace-core, but the mix failed that brief. The second, and more general commentary is that I severely fear the staying power of Unearth’s chosen musical direction in the current modern metalcore climate. While there is much value in staying true to the sound you have meticulously crafted over decades of releases, as well as not being bandwagoners jumping from trend to trend, I do fear that The Wretched The Runious, while a highly competent album, will do little to rustle in new listeners or provide longtime fans something beyond just more Unearth.

The Wretched; The Ruinous is a solid slab of thrashy metalcore that screams of classic Unearth and harkens back to simpler times in the metalcore scene. Sadly, a harsh mix and a supposed rigidity against varying their tried and tested formula will do little to excite longtime listeners or do much to bring in newer younger audiences.