UNBLESSED — Unblessed (review)

Album · 1993 · Heavy Metal

3.5/5 · 2020-02-22
siLLy puPPy

UNBLESSED was a prime example of a metal band forcing its existence onto the world through sheer determination. This band was founded in 1991 by two high school chums guitarist Chris Brekke and drummer Travis Jorgensen who hooked up with the past high school years age James Peterson who would provide the vocals. The first strike against this band was that it formed in the remote town of Tonopah, Nevada with a population of just a couple thousand located roughly halfway between Reno and Las Vegas. In other words, in the middle of fucking nowhere! But that mattered not and this trio pursued its love of the classic 1980s heavy metal style that took the world by storm and rocked every far flung establishment in the known universe.

Inspired by the melodic operatic vocal metal bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Queensryche, the band wrote ten songs and borrowed money before heading to a Las Vegas studio to create its self-titled album that was recorded in 1992 and released the following year. This trio suffered from a lack of a bassist which precluded them from performing live gigs as well as incompatibilities between band members which sealed the fate of a break up before things ever really took off but nevertheless UNBLESSED crafted a really good specimen of obscure 80s heavy metal that may have been a little late to the party but still found a very small audience. But the financial pressures hit home fairly quickly and a second album wouldn’t be realized until 2011.

While not the most original sounding album out of the early heavy metal years, UNBLESSED managed to craft an interesting sound that was on the verge of stepping beyond the established boundaries but didn’t quite make it there. The tracks presented on this eponymous release are very much of old school metal with galloping guitar riffs, sizzling guitar solos and bass and drum rhythmic drive. Tracks range from the heavy metal rockers that begins with the opening “Hypocrisy” and probably peaks with the rampaging “Out Of My Head” which incorporates thrash metal elements however there are three ballads as well which includes "Death's Wings", "Ever Fading Youth" and "Victims Of Destiny.” The first of which displays a series of excellent acoustic guitar arpeggio work and melodic counterpoints much like Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” album. This is probably the best vocal work of Peterson as well. “Victim Of Destiny” on the other hand sounds a little goofy with vocal yelps and a more cheesy 80s metal ballad approach.

Overall UNBLESSED cranked out a fairly decent debut release but while not bad neither will it go down as some lost classic. The right word is competent which means that this band had potential but didn’t have fate on its side to carry on not to mention this style of metal was quickly going out of fashion with the alternative everything 90s well underway. This is an interesting listen for those who want to explore the lesser known nooks and crannies of the classic metal universe. Every track is instantly catchy and could easily be polished into something of Crimson Glory calibre however Peterson’s vocals are a bit off at times and the percussion sounds canned a lot of the time. The guitar and bass are right on all throughout the album but there is a clear lack of creative juices flowing as this is mostly about hero worship and not forging a new path in the metal universe.