Angry Feel Good Music

Unashamed are one of the forerunners of spirit-filled hardcore music. They play flat out brutal and heavy music with a strong Christian message. Today I'll be reviewing Unashamed's second release "Silence". The album title is a little misleading since "Silence" is nothing but. It is one of the noisiest crunchiest albums I own. Unlike some of the other early Christian hardcore like NIV and Focused, Unashamed sound rawer and dirtier. The music is noisy and almost sloppy in sound. It's simple and loud and heavy. No fancy solos here or moody emotional interludes, but one heck of a lot of passion!

"Silence" gets us started with "Gain" a mid paced crunchy song which then leads into the more chaotic sounding "Neverend". The music is mostly mid-paced riffing with a noisier distortion giving the album a rougher chaotic edge. To go through each song would be repetitive, so I'll group them. "Renewal" and "Substance Abuse" are both mid-paced and heavy. "Sustain" (which is featured on their first album as well) along with the epic "Stand" have a darker edge with touches of eerie melody. The rest of the songs are flat out hardcore! "Break The Chain", "Whose To Blame" and "I Surrender" mix things up with faster riffing mixed with crushing heaviness. "I Surrender" has a spoken intro which sounds a lot like Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul. It is passionate and lyrically bold. As the bands name states, these guys are Unashamed of their Christian roots and are unapologetic about it. Take it or leave, these guys aren't backing down which I feel is what hardcore music is all about. Stand strong to your beliefs and not giving in to social pressure.

My Favourite track is "Blessed Redeemer". This has a killer riff and is brutally heavy. A real fist pounder! And it just exudes passion!

Of all the Christian hardcore bands I feel Unashamed by definition epitomize Angry Feel Good Music. It's raw and brutal and Jeff's vocals are gruff and passionate. It sounds so angst ridden, but the lyrics are so up-lifting. It makes for a rather interesting listening experience. Up next, I'll review a close runner-up in Focused's "Bow"