When ex-Vader/Dies Irae guitarist Maurycy "Mauser" Stefanowicz announced his new band, everybody must have though that it would be another death metal endeavor, but it's something completely different. The band's vocalist is noone else but Mauser's wife Aya. Okay, I know what you're thinking now... Please, don't, because this, UnSun's sophomore album 'Clinic for Dolls' is far better than what presuppositions portend.

UnSun's music can be called gothic metal. Every song is exceedingly catchy. Every time, when someone decides to mix heaviness and poppiness together, there are risks for it to sound bad in the ears of any metal music fan. 'Clinic for the Dolls' has some attributes that lift it up from the grey mass. Aya's nice vocals are the brightest light about the album. Her voice is like Kate Bush's natural style, and not at all in vein of Tarja Turunen's operatic voice. Her English pronunciation skills are also good. But what is the most important trait of her's is her wide scale she can sing in, and when she uses it fully, that's when vocal melody lines become outstanding.

The music is kept quite simplistic, but still songs can be surprisingly divergent. The guitar tone is modern and chugga-chugga riffage is almost all around the album. Some lead guitar work refreshes the guitar department at times. However, the vocals are the main source for melodiousness here. Synthesizers are more or less highly typical for this kind of music. The drumming is very energetic, and there's quite a lot of good ol' double bass drumming. The production is powerful and modern, but still not too inorganic. All in all, UnSun covers quite a lot of ground, from heavy goth moments reminding of Evergrey and Sirenia to Within Temptation -esque vocals/piano driven ballad 'The Last Tear'.

The album is immediately striking, thanks to hugely catchy songs, and it surely also offers some lasting interest for goth metal fans. A good one from still young band.

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/07/2010 14:29