Album review: Unprocessed – Angel

For some reason, we expect metalcore that isn’t Parkway Drive to come from either the U.S. or the UK. The unspoken but lingering suspicion about artists like Unprocessed, who are from Germany, hasn’t helped this otherwise successful outfit’s cause on our shores. A 2020 tour with Polyphia looked like it might open a few doors, before the pandemic promptly slammed every door in sight.

Led by maestro guitarist and singer Manuel Gardner Fernandes, Unprocessed have deconstructed their sound, scrutinised its components and put them back together in largely potent form. Distancing themselves somewhat from the more tickly and complex arrangements seen on previous album …and everything in between from 2023, the band’s discovery of hooks now aligns them closer to Architects’ more deftly honed hammerings.

There’s a glut of heaviness to begin with, but you get a real sense of where Unprocessed are now in third song Beyond Heaven’s Gate, combining melody with a dive-bombing chorus. Sacrifice Me and Snowlover take this concept further – they’re all emotive, considered shades leading into brutish hooks. It’s these kinds of attention-grabbing contrasts that persuade you that Angel might be the quartet’s best work. It’s not massively accessible, though, and these are songs you’ll want to live with to properly understand or reach a verdict on.

Paleface Swiss frontman Zelli guests on Solara, one of the album’s best tracks in that it’s a neat distillation of the band’s bigger picture. Similarly attractive is Head In The Clouds, featuring a signature contribution from Jason Aalon Butler. Hearing the FEVER 333 frontman in such brilliant form should raise the spirits of anyone loving this particular cleft of challenging music.

At times, during the hammering Terrestrial for example, Unprocessed sound like they’re clinging by their fingertips to the edge of sanity. Where they’ve improved is in their wider ability to control that storm. With friends in heavy places singing their praises, next year could yet be the German outfit’s biggest.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Bring Me The Horizon, Animals As Leaders, Spiritbox

Angel is released on October 31