The Unguided- Betrayer of the Code Single

The Unguided have decided to rework the old Fallen Angels song Betrayer of the Code. They redid everything from the lyrics, to the riffs, to the artwork (which had the tattoo from Eden Fire and the blood which was really cool!)  going off the original version (of the music). What an improvement this song has made! In case you don’t know, Fallen Angels preceded Sonic Syndicate which preceded The Unguided. This song is a preface to the full remake of the entire demo. This song has single handedly re-defined Melodic Death Metal for me. Here’s why:

Instrumentals:
This song does something you don’t see every day. It has a guitar solo in the very early going. Richard has barely said a few words when Roland starts melting our faces. Before the solo we have very melodic and ominous keyboards which is something I’d like to see a lot of from Roger. He really takes you back to the Eden Fire era with this and it was amazing all the way through.This is the epitome of melodic to me. This is the part that re-defines the melodic in melodeath. The whole song re-defines the entire genre! The riffs for all of the Instruments are very melodic throughout the song. At times it’s very heavy which is a wonderful contrast to the melody even though it’s still present.
What really intrigues me is the guitar riff from Roland. He has 3 solos throughout the song. It almost seems like he’s building his part up through the song separately. Each solo becomes more amazing until the third makes you play air guitar while your eyeballs are melting. Roland has made me a huge fan of technical guitar playing and solos which were previously less important to me. I have tremendous respect to anybody who can play two instruments at once and I can see a specific style developing with Roland. He seems to like trills in the background sometimes which I also like a lot. I wish he’d do a few more but that is a stupid complaint.

Overall: 5+/5! This song was perfect here. I realistically can’t criticize something this amazing. Greatest instrumental song I’ve yet to hear. Another job well done Roland and Roger!

Vocals/Lyrics:
In the past I’ve praised Richard more than I have Roland vocally, this time I think Roland’s vocals were as good if not better than Richard’s. Roland is the story of this song. However, I’m going to save him until after Richard because his comments are longer.
As always, impeccable job on the lyrics Richard. My hat is off to you. Again, Richard poured his heart and soul and very living essence into his vocal performance and songwriting. The lyrics are more to the death metal style instead of Richard’s philosophical style which is a good way to keep us honest. I love his screams, especially when he goes high. This time we heard a good bit of his lower register. Honestly I love the fact that he has a large range and I like to see him use it entirely. His extreme low is as good as his high. I also think he adds a nice demonic feeling to his screams here. Maybe it was the riff that helped that but i think this was an intended sound. I loved it. The demonic style fits him well, although i do enjoy his philosophy too. The demonic sound was a really nice flashback to Eden Fire. Now to Roland.
The headliner for this song as stated before is definitely Roland. He does everything vocally and with his guitar. He adds his aggressive low range cleans and even a few screams I believe. I love when he goes down there in heavier songs because it really accents all of the work that everyone has contributed. He really exercises his full range as did Richard. He also put in an ominous vocalization during the slower part of the song in the chorus. He also does this thing in the chorus where it sounds a little falsetto. I love when he does that as well the aggressive lows. This guy has not received enough credit from me in the previous review. Here, it is all his. I not only remove my hat to him, I wave it around, scream, and then hurl it in his direction in salute.

Other Notes: I loved the way it climaxed at the end when the chorus was repeated several times. It got better each time until it couldn't get any better and the song had to end.

Overall: pure perfection! 5+/5! This is the best vocal and lyrical masterpiece I’ve heard in my lifetime!

Overall Song: 6/5! I know that’s awful math but this is the BEST song EVER! I haven’t stopped listening to it all day and This song will stay with me for a long time. This was a great decision by the 3 Rs to appease us fans with this song. This is their best song among all 3 bands and it will certainly hold us over until the full LP. I look forward to that more than anything right now.

Good Buy?: I’ve already betrayed the code! I bought one of the limited 616 merch. I urge you, rather implore you to buy this even if you’ve never heard of this band before. You will be happy! Buy here: http://despotz.bigcartel.com/product/the-unguided-botc-unisex-t-shirt-signed-poster-and-mp3
and here: http://sixonesix.se/
 the second one takes you to a place where you can get to the first link or you can go to iTunes or Amazon from there. Support the cause and go check out their forum here: http://lestat.rymdraket.net/tu_forum/index.php

Thx for reading!
    CJ

The Unguided- Nightmareland EP

The army has mobilized this past April. The army of The Unguided that is. Before i review their ep, I'd like to send a shout out to Richard Sjunnesson and Roland Johansson. They are two very brave people for doing what they've done. Roland having left Sonic Syndicate because he wanted to spend time with his family. And to Richard who followed his heart and had the bslls to quit Sonic because he didn't like the direction that the label was forcing them in. These guys and Richard's brother Roger make up a band that eptitemizes what music is about and what life is about. On to the review!

Green Eyed Demon Istrumentals:
I loved what Roger and Roland did in the intro here. He had a nice buildup that didn't bore you, and then it just exploded which was a phenomonal hook. The song was heavy on the guitars which was nice. Also the song slowed down a little in the bridge and rebuilt from the ground up. It was very well timed so it wasn't boring at all. This was well done by Roger/Roland and I have to award him a 5/5!

Vocals:
two words: kick ass! Richard was great with good intonation and heavy mids and nice highs. Roland got a little aggressive which I liked. He even screamed once which i liked quite a lot. I love to see Roland go into his upper register when he says "your innocence was never an excuse." this was brilliant. The one criticizm that I have is don't whisper the last chorus and let the song fall off a cliff! Use what you've already created! This song doesn't have a climax. It peaks way too early in the second chorus. I cant call that a climax. Still, I must give them a 5/5 with that one repercussion.

Overall: 5/5 and well deserved. Very nearly perfect.

Pathfinder Vocals:
In the lyrical follow up to Rebellion in Nightmareland, this song does very well. Though not nearly as heavy as its counterpart, it still has a good amount of meaning. Richard begins by screaming his lungs out in the mid-high range. I loved their decision to feature Peter Tagtgren. I think this was a brilliant contrasts in vocal range with peter's voice being lower and Richard's being higher. Roland's voice is very pure in the chorus (which is a little weird when describing a metal band). his cleans are spellbinding. I like that little part at the end about pursuing their dream because that is a true testiment to what they've done. I also liked the "you are nothing without me" at the end of the chorus. Great job to all vocalists especially Rich! 5/5!

Instrumentals:
Green Eyed Demon was deffinately a hard act for Roger/Roland to follow. He did it quite well actually. I have only one criticism to Roland; but I will save that until after the praise. It jumps right in without an intro which isn't a bad thing. It is rather a nice change. i heard a really nice baseline in there which surprised me. Props to Jonas for his session help and producing of the EP. For most of the song I think that the instrumentals were a pedestal for Richard and Roland's amazing vocals with the help of Peter. Here's my criticism: the solo seemed out of order to me. i would've liked to see the plam mutes in the beginning and build from there.This rather than jumping in immediately, palm mutes, slow down, and kick it up on the last few chords. it should've grown and become amazing or; go absolutely all out from beginning to end. Overall though it was well composed: 4/5 for them.

Overall: 4.5/5. the vocalists really made this song worthwile.

Best song: Considering that there are only 2 songs and I rated Green Eyed Demon higher I'm going to lean a bit on Green Eyed Demon.

Good buy: Since I'm one of the 616 with the limited edition shirt and cd I would say absolutely YES!

Thanks for reading and enjoy!

                                                                               CJ

Deliver Us Single- In Flames

The fathers of melodeath have done it again! In Flames' new single, Deliver Us was fair. I enjoyed the intro because of its masterful build up. It got you into it immediately with a nice guitar hook. I will say that it was strangely slow after the intro. I was really hoping that they would use some serious TNT in the chorus. This would've made the song absolutely perfect in my opinion. I think they failed to make use of the hard work they did beforehand.

The guitar solo was ok overall. I found the music video to be quite entertaining. I think with the name of their upcoming album: Sounds of a Playground Fading, i think the video is fitting. If i were Nuclear Blast and In Flames i would not have chosen this song for the video or the lead single. I think the video should've gone with the corresponding song and at this point i can't say what i think the lead single should be.

Rating:
instrumentals: I give this a 3.5 because of the awesome buildub and intro, but the lack of excitement in the chorus and other parts. The solo was ok but nothing special.

Vocals: I think Anders does well here. I wish for a little more screaming but overall it was solid. 4 for him.

Overall: 3.5 for reasons mentioned above.

Good buy?: This is worth the money on itunes. I like the song overall. I dont see bad mistakes rather than room for improvement. Go ahead and buy it! I am also looking forward to the full lp.

Note: I will not be reviewing the advanced songs that are floating around YouTube to respect In Flames.

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