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It's ironic that while Unsane's debut release,
Total Destruction, chose to keep their tribal noise grindings fully intact and raw, when they dropped back to indie they added elements to make their music slightly more accessible. That's not to say
Scattered, Smothered & Covered is any less visceral than their previous releases, but if their earlier work hacked into the listener's skull like a rusty saw, this one slices cleanly with a more refined, razor-sharp precision. You don't bleed any less, it's just slightly less painful. Gone is the incessant, driving tribal beat that their original drummer, Charlie Ondras (who died of a heroin overdose), made an Unsane trademark. His replacement, Vinnie Signorelli, provides a more standard rock-oriented thump that makes some of the tunes downright groovy. Were it not for all of the distortion the bass, guitar, and vocals are pushed through,
Scattered, Smothered & Covered might actually find some FM radio success. Unsane, however, is nowhere near ready to compromise the extreme, bleak noise rock they've gnashed out since 1991. Still, this tightening of their sound is a great step forward for a band that seemed to have reached a musical dead end, and it'll surely prove that they're more than one-dimensional distortion-mongers.
--Adem Tepedelen
Product Description
Legendary NYC noise trio Unsane's classic album Scattered, Smothered And Covered is finally reissued, along with the famous Amrep Christmas live album recording at the mythical Amphetamine Reptile Christmas party in 1997. Formed at the end of the '80s along with NY mates The Swans, Helmet and Pussy Galore, Unsane are one of the most influential bands in heavy music. Their uncompromising mix of distorted vocals, huge bass sound and heavy percussion has become in 20 years one of the most respected reference for all the hardcore, noise, metal, whatever is loud, international scene. Chris Spencer, Vinnie Signorelli and Dave Curran have been signed to the world's finest labels this far, including Amphetamine Reptile, Man's Ruin, Matador and finally Relapse Records. Scattered.... is probably their most classic albums to date, which has been impossible to find since Amrep closed down at the end of '90s. Celebrate ! Here it is back, in a gorgeous deluxe double digipak featuring their most famous live album as a bonus CD. RR Records. 2006.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.