Ünloco and HeKill Three

Ünloco

Becoming I (Maverick)

HeKill Three

3.0 (Cardinal Zen) Metal for the morning after, Ünloco's sophomore set for Maverick nearly drowns itself in a sea of self-loathing. Try on some of these song titles (just don't pull the noose too tight): "Failure," "Empty," "Drowning in It," "Watching Me Slip." Or this sample lyric from "Fold": "I feel like I don't exist; I'm trying too hard to cope with this." And it's true -- on about half of Becoming I, Ünloco is trying too hard. Certainly the Godsmack-lite of opener "Crashing" has nothing new to add, while "Failure" is, oddly enough, a dead ringer for the band of the same name. "Hands and Knees" is better, a torrent of filial angst with a rocket-fuel chorus. Ünloco graduates with full honors from the "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" school, but Becoming I only occasionally strays into outright Staind territory. It's impeccably produced, with well-thought-out arrangements; the strings and synthetic flutes of "Watching Me Slip" add depth to what would otherwise be a generic feel-my-pain ballad. The album's most ferocious moments are also its best, as the surging "Bruises" and unrelenting "Making Me Hate You" sublimate the foursome's anger into a flurry of cathartic riffs and bone-bending percussion. But for an even greater adrenaline rush, Ünloco is eclipsed by its sometime Back Room bill-sharers HeKill Three on 3.0. A mere seven songs in length, 3.0 grabs you by the lapels from the opening crunch of "Dayglo" and smacks you around like a secondhand rag doll. Judging by 3.0, this local metal institution has only two settings: "extremely agitated" and "off the fucking charts." The result is a white-knuckle ride through the nether regions of the human psyche -- including "Real Gardenias," surely the nastiest song ever written about flowers -- that leaves you battered, bruised, and thirsty for more. According to "Suzanne's Perfect Record," "Nothing says I love you like a bullet to the brain," but thankfully, the more intense parts of Becoming I and nearly all of 3.0 provide a form of release that's just as effective, and without all the nasty bloodstains.

(Ünloco)

(HeKill Three)