Customer Reviews

Occupational Hazard

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My exposure to Unsane's past efforts has been notably limited, but I have heard enough to realize that their latest effort is far more structured than work of old. However, they've hardly sold out to trendy, late-90s metal cliches, and though Unsane are more appropriately punk than metal, "Occupational Hazard" finds them exploring the progressive hardcore Fugazi is famous for. This is a genre I am only marginally familiar with, but I feel safe in saying that with this record Unsane have delivered what has to be the most professional noise rock record to date. There is just enough distortion to give the band a menacing sound but without muffling the underlying rhythms. The drums in particular are well-produced and superbly played for this genre (courtesy of Vinny Signorelli), at times even approaching a jazz-like sophistication. The guitars can sound like anyone from Reverend Horton Heat to Kim Thayil (of Soundgarden) depending on the song. Bottom line is the grooves on this album just have far more swing and sense of movement than the typical hardcore sound today, as represented by all those Sick Of It All clones with the monotonous sore throat vocals and guitarists who treat the upper three strings on their guitar like the Bermuda Triangle. Relapse have staked a major coup in signing Unsane at this stage of their development.

NOTE: This review was written in 1997/98 and to the best of my knowledge Unsane have long since broken up.

Similar to Helmet and the Jesus Lizard, Unsane are a good example of why the early 90's rocked so much. Shame the Korn-addicts didn't check this out when it was released.

I picked this album up for $5.00. Even for three times that price, it would have still have been a deal. This has to be the best album I have gotten in at least the last 5 months.
Do your eardrums a favor, and get this album!!!

Unsane, Occupational Hazard (Relapse, 1998)

Insert witty comments about lyrics here. The only places I could find them listed were ad- and spyware-infested commercial sites. And without a sheet I can't understand what Chris is on about 90% of the time. Ah, well.

It amazes me that a band like Unsane could have still been around in the metal scene that was 1998. I mean, let's face it, metal was dominated by that nu-muck spewed by Korn and its ripoffs, and "punk" had come to mean The Offspring and Blink182. Even Ministry had become relatively unlistenable a few years before. What was a purveyor of quality metal to do?

I don't know, but they did it. Occupational Hazard is straight-up sludge from the bottom of the East River. This is the album [Ministry's] Filth Pig wanted to be and couldn't become. Slow, crunchy guitar, tortured vocals, and a rhythm section capable of hurting you without even being in the same room. Sonically, they bear resemblances to mid-era Jesus Lizard (think Liar here) with the speed turned down, or early Noisegate without the deep ambiance. Awesome. ****

Man, this is one brutally heavy album. "Occupational Hazard" is everything that nu-metal pretends to be, a sort of mood music for psychopaths if you will. Blurring the distinctions between punk, metal, and hardcore, Unsane's unhinged sound will surely have even the most discriminating noise connoisseurs banging their heads in approval. Filled with skull-busting rhythms, layers of noisy tension, and scathing screams, this album could work very well as the soundtrack to a nervous breakdown. Chris Spencer's guitar sound is among the most unique I've heard in all my years of heavy-music listening, passing up cliched riffing for a thick wall of pummelling, mind-bending distortion. What's more, the band's songwriting is a marvel of tightness and focus, with every unnecessary note edited out for maximum efficiency and insanity. Abrasion is mission number one here, and Unsane deliver staggering amounts of it on all thirteen of this album's tracks. Unfortunately Unsane have been unfairly neglected by the masses, but that shouldn't stop all serious rivotheads from checking them out.

Chris Spencer and Co. rip it up on this disc. "Sick" is a personal favorite. See them live if you get the chance!

I first heard of these guys when I heard Committed on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. It took me a while to be grabbed, but I loved the song and decided to check out the CD. The rest of the CD is just as powerful, even if a few of the songs aren't as good as Committed. There's the slower but heavy Hazmat, one of the better songs on the CD. The track after, Smells Like Rain, is a faster and spooky song that I also like. I also like the song Scam, even though Dave Curran's voice is not so great. I like Over Me for its building up quality, and I like Understand for its jumpy beat. Lead, Humidifier, and Take In The Stray are also true rock/hardcore songs that are cool. Even though the rest of the CD isn't quite as good, it's still great. A definete pickup.

this band is awesome. it doesn't have the alternative flavor that most punk bands have. if you want to get the hell away from alternative, this band's for you

Occupational Hazards is heavy stuff. Only buy if you want heavy music, with violent subject matter. I really dig this album. Does any band make better album covers then Unsane, I highly doubt it.

This is Unsane's fourth studio album, and while the cover could be mistaken for that of a bad b-grade horror film, "Occupational Hazard" has more violence and more capacity for fear than every "Scanners" sequel ever produced. This isn't metal, by the way. This isn't Marilyn Manson reaching desperately for shock value, this isn't Pantera spouting gibberish about how macho they are, this isn't Korn with their fashion-metal posing, this is Unsane: three guys from New York who play blisteringly hard music without fashion or pretense. If you can listen to "Over Me" and not buy this, then you are a better man than I.