THE MUNSENS…a strange name for an unconventional band. The name has been floating around for years but this is the first time I’ve been able to connect any music to it. It was not what I was expecting, that’s for sure. These days, that’s a good thing, and having a name that you can’t connect to any particular style of music is also refreshing…
This Denver band plays some fairly epic material. The first track ‘Dirge (For Those To Come)’ caught me off guard right away…a melancholy, almost post-metal beginning that really does sound like a dirge that soon morphs into full blown black metal with a sad and tragic edge. The quavering riffs here really do summon up that cold melancholy that many BM bands seek. The vocals are a harsh croaking, and you’re immediately grabbed by the super deep and raw bass sound…both will become apparent in all THE MUNSENS’ songs.
That cadaverous bass brings the next tune ‘Pitiful’ to life, and here the band unleashes a kind of crushing, crusty doom metal that rattles your ribcage with subsonic tones. A sense of inescapable sorrow now becomes deeply ingrained into the music, extending to the title track, which mixes sad doom with raw, mid-paced metal. ‘Bleeding From The Ears’ is not the total assault the title would indicate, but another somber mixture of sludge doom and post-metal that builds to a heavy climax…heavy not just sonically, but emotionally. The record concludes with the shortest song ‘River of Errors”, which has the weight of a mountain crashing down.
THE MUNSENS’ approach is not immediately accessible, and I suspect further listens will enhance the impact of Unhanded. Well worth checking out…
Review By: Dr. Mality
THE MUNSENS
Unhanded
Sailor Records
4.5 / 6