UNBOUNDED TERROR: Faith In Chaos

Release year: 2020
Label: Xtreem Music

Following in the footsteps of many other acts, Unbouded Terror from Majorca, Spain are yet another long buried, obscure 90’s death metal group who’ve decided to reunite and record new material. In the case of the Spaniards, however, calling it a “reunion” per se is a bit misleading, as only vocalist Vicente J. Payá is an original member. But I digress.

Now, a mere 18 years after their 1992 debut album, Nest Of Affliction, Unbounded Terror is back to spread their faith in chaos with a second full-length album.

Unbounded Terror anno 2020 sound pretty traditional, and whilst originality isn’t a prominent element here, they don’t sound too much like anyone else, either. In many ways, Unbounded Terror’s take on death metal reminds me of Polish Vader in that it’s neither brutal nor technical, neither doomy nor full-on blasting, neither grinding nor thrashing… in the same way, it’s kind of “middle of the road” stuff that doesn’t fall easily into any of the many subcategories of death metal.

Otherwise too, Vader is a definite reference to the Spaniards’ sound. Unbounded Terror don’t sound as pinpoint-precision on-time as the Poles, but that’s not a negative remark: it lends an organic feel to the sound, missing from much of Vader’s output. Apart from Vader, I’d say fans of Bolt Thrower will find the heavy mid-tempo sections on Faith In Chaos to their liking, and fans of old school US death metal – from times when death metal was death metal and not “brutal” or “grinding” or whatnot – will probably find a lot that fits their palate here.

Overall, Faith In Chaos is a perfectly adequate record. But it’s not better than that. What I mean to say is that whilst there’s nothing wrong with Faith In Chaos and it’s an album that’s quite enjoyable to listen to, there’s really nothing on here to suck the listener in and keep him coming back. It’s one of those dime-a-dozen death metal albums which doesn’t do anything wrong, but fails to make a lasting impression. The kind of stuff you feel you’ve heard a hundred times before when listening to it for the first time. But in no way the kind of stuff that makes you press the stop button immediately.

As comebacks and new albums by old bands go, there have been far worse cases that Faith In Chaos. It’s certainly worth a test drive to see if you like it, and fans of the earlier material of the band probably needn’t feel disappointed.

3/5

Visit Unbounded Terror on their official website or Facebook