Glow - Unjust > Reviews > Hidden Gem

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Intelligent, beautiful, unique
Disadvantages:	Zero publicity

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As you may see from my other reviews, I'm reviewing a lot of bands that people haven't heard of. Because of this it can be hard for me to review without comparing them to other well known bands.

Unjust are a band who have massively matured since their first release in 2001. 'Glow' is described as a moody, melodic opus of metal and progressive rock music. It is a fantastic CD that I see more of a journey than a CD. Operatic vocals combined with heavy guitar riffs are the general theme here.
They have evolved a great deal since their stereotypical metal debut of "Makeshift Grey", and we are now left with a mature, intelligent release.

From the opening intro "Paper Planets" which is a soft guitar opener that can be described as beach music, it sharply kicks into the loud and violent 'Throwing Pennies'. The track isn't too loud and overpowering that it takes away from the effect, it's a very soothing vocally layered melancholic track with pounding drums and guitars.

HIGHLIGHTS:

"Tired" is the track that begins to see the progerssion and evolution on the album. It's a track that combines subtle orchestral backing with the screams of "I am so tired. I am so sore".

"Facepaint" is an amazingly bold track. Again, we have layered operatic screaming rock vocals combined with the signature pounding drums and increasing guitar riffs.

"Meantime" begins as a standard rock song, hitting hard and heavy, but then drops off towards the end into a beautiful piano and electric guitar driven angsty love song; "Where are you now?!".

"Closure" is a backing synthesised operatic scream against the soul. With the lyrics "Let me out" hauntingly sung over and over.

All in all, these tracks share a lot of similarities, but yet have many unique qualities. The operatic vocals are consistent across most of the songs but they work well individually and you don't end up with a repititively boring record.