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Unjust

Which song was it? Was it that last one. I think so. Wait, I think it was that other one. Wait that one sounds just like that one. And that one sounds just like the other one. Oh, this is it… No, that’s not it! Which one is it?

That’s what it’s like trying to relocate a previously played song on Unjust’s fourth release, To Lose A Name. Actually, if someone had lost the names of any of the tracks they wouldn’t be able to decipher any of the songs apart!

You may think I’m being unjust (sorry about that one), but Unjust doesn’t make it very easy. Let it be known that they have some talent and are good at their brand of metal. The issue is that we’ve heard this brand of metal before, many times. All of their songs have quality attributes, but each song has the same qualities. And to be fair, they all have the same detractions. The instrumentation is crisp and tight. Paul Mendoza’s vocals wrench, turn falsetto, and soar above solid minor chord progressions. Lyrically, the songs are dramatic, with a strong emphasis on questions like, “What’s your problem?” or statements like, “Oh, I’m so angry!” The problem is that the moment the album begins, the listener can anticipate almost every twist and turn that the album takes. What was unexpected was that the first three songs on the album would come off so hard. Usually the first two are used to grab a listener’s attention, and then the third song switches the mood or brings the tempo down a little bit. But it seems as if Unjust just kept yelling.

And yes the lyrics are dramatic and full of questions for authority figures; but what did all of those lyrics really mean? What were they about? Even on “Choose Nothing” which is one of the stronger songs on the record, the lyrics go, “Feel strong, awakening...choose nothing. In this hope filled times, our excellence...choose nothing. Candlelights...Candlelights...For them!” What does that mean? The language is so abstract that it’s hard to receive something different from each song. Each song has the great metal feel, the great metal vocal, and the great metal breakdown, but none of these qualities are unique to any particular song or unique to this particular band.

In Unjust’s bio online, they state that they continue to develop in their musical identity. They need to keep continuing, and then continue some more. What ever they do, they’ll be doing it with a German record label called Swell Creek Records. I guess Germans like metal too. It doesn’t surprise me that Germans or anyone else would be into Unjust, because Unjust is a solid metal band. However, calling their sound fresh and new would be a stretch.

Who knows, there’s still a chance that if you don’t find Unjust on myspace.com, you might still hear them on the radio as Joe Rock hosts Local Licks on 107.7, the Bone!

- Shannon Koehler

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