THE UNITY – Pride (Album Review)

THE UNITY - Pride (Album Review)
THE UNITY – Pride

The Unity are a power metal band from Germany formed in 2016 by members of Love.Might.Kill. They started out as a side project by Gamma Ray members Henjo Richter (guitars) and Michael Ehré (drums). Pride is the third album. Michael Ehré is also the current drummer for power metal giants Primal Fear. The album rocks hard with lots of great riffs, terrific and ripping guitar solos, super catchy vocals and melodies all the way through, a real variety of styles from Power Metal, hard rock and melodic rock.

The Songs

The album begins with an instrumental track “The New Pandora” which segues nicely into “Hands Of Time” you see this formula with a lot of power metal, Axel Rudi Pell for example does this on every album.

“Hands of Time” starts off pounding and chugging along and goes into a bit of a guitar solo before you even get to hear the singer. The song continues on and flows nicely into the chorus. This is a very memorable song. It sets up the rest of the album perfectly.

“Line and Sinker” is next. It’s Melodic Hard Rock with a great riff and addictive/catchy melody. The Wah-Wah pedal gets a good workout on this one and would fit nicely in the eighties.

The pace picks up on “We Don’t Need Them Here” a true power metal feel to the song. Great guitar work on this first single for the album.

“Destination Unknown” slows things down and might be classified as a power ballad. I’m not a fan of power ballads but this song works for me. I really like the guitar work on it and the vocals are well done.

“Angel of Dawn” continues with the slower pace, a moody thumping tempo with some nice riffs and great guitar solo. Italian vocalist Gianbattista Manenti sounds great on this one as well.

“Damn Nation” cranks the tempo back up with the chugging riffs and complex drum rhythms. The keyboards actually complement the guitars and don’t stand out. Very subtle. Again the guitars are awesome on this, they must have had fun doing this one.

“Wave of Fear” shows again how the keyboards are perfectly blended with the guitars and don’t stand out. I feel keyboards add to the sound but I don’t like it where they are too prominent. Very nicely mixed.

“Guess How I Hate This” is the weakest track on the album for me. Nothing special about it.

“Scenery Of Hate” is another fast-paced drum-pounding track. Heaviest track on the album true power metal with blistering guitars.

“Rusty Cadillac” is my favourite track on this album. It starts off what sounds like a marching drum beat and a bass lick that has that Billy Sheehan sound. This song adds to the diversity of the album with a horn section. I swear this would fit perfectly on Extreme’s Pornograffitti.

The final song is “You Don’t Walk Alone” a classic rock-sounding song that has an AOR feel to it.

Final thoughts

This release has lots of great riffs, terrific and ripping guitar solos, super catchy all the way through, and a real variety of styles. The production and mixing are great on this release, it allows for all the pieces to flow together nicely, you don’t have the guitars stepping over the vocals etc. So if you like Power Metal, Hard Rock, NWOBHM, Melodic Rock and even AOR you need to check it out. This made my top ten of 2020 list, I liked it that much.

Also, find more of my CGCM reviews here: Ivan Galesic

Ivan Galesic

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Band Members:

  • Gianbattista Manenti – vocals (Love.Might.Kill)
  • Henjo Richter – guitars (Gamma Ray, Rampage, Avantasia, Charon)
  • Stefan Ellerhorst – guitars (Crossroads, Diamond Breaker, Love.Might.Kill)
  • Jogi Sweers – bass (Love.Might.Kill)
  • Michael Ehré – drums (Gamma Ray,Primal Fear,Firewind, Love.Might.Kill)
  • Sascha Onnen – keyboards (Mob Rules, Love.Might.Kill)

Tracklisting

  1. The New Pandora 1:17
  2. Hands Of Time 5:33
  3. Line And Sinker 5:41
  4. We Don’t Need Them Here 3:56
  5. Destination Unknown 5:06
  6. Angel Of Dawn 4:42
  7. Damn Nation 4:50
  8. Wave Of Fear 5:39
  9. Guess How I Hate This 4:18
  10. Scenery Of Hate 4:03
  11. Rusty Cadillac 3:27
  12. You Don’t Walk Alone 4:23

Total running time: 52:00

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_zDOgFV-2M[/embedyt]

 

[embedyt] https://youtu.be/a8bSKOSTxkM[/embedyt]

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