Customer Reviews

Ungod

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I got this CD about 10 months ago, on the same day as Darkest Days, though I didn't MEAN to get this (my sister found it, and bought it without me knowing; I'd been wanting to get DD for a few months). Ironically, there's no contest... THIS is easily their best CD (I had WBBP for about 5 months before these two). The riffs aren't totally mindblowing on their own, but when combined with Chris Hall's amazing, screaming vocals, they bring the songs to life, and make you want to MOVE. Hard to say what; jump around, headbang, play air guitar, scream, whatever! "Ungod" is one of the best 'epic' songs I've ever heard, and the guys' riff is used even better here than in "Hey Man Nice Shot" by Filter (after all, SW had it first). And "Lies" has the chunky Mettalica palm-mute type riff, with Chris shouting "You are haunting my reality, your LIES are the only truth that I believe! " Awesome... buy this album, trust me (sounds cliche, but true).

"Ungod" is definitely worth adding to any rock collection; it is Stabbing Westward's best. (Don't construe this to mean that the band's other albums are bad, they are, in fact, quite good.) "Ungod" is considerably darker than the band's other albums, "Wither Blister Burn + Peel" and "Ungod." David Suycott's drumming on this album is considerably more textured than that of his successor, Andy Kubiszewski, as is evident in the introduction to the song "Can't Happen Here." Stuart Zechman's guitar playing is the best guitar work the band has featured to date, largely because it is not masked beneath layers of keyboards and samples. Keyboardist/programmer Walter Flakus has success here because he tries to complement Zechman's guitar rather than trying to compete with it. "Ungod" also has some excellent bass lines, the likes of which have never again been seen by this Chicago band. Listening to "Ungod," like any Stabbing Westward album, is an excellent means of venting anger, sorrow, and frustration, especially with the song "Violent Mood Swings." You can't go wrong with any album by Stabbing Westward if that is your purpose, but "Ungod" is the band's best work to date.

My extremely biased view of Stabbing Westward already shines through in the title of this review. The music on here is just phenomenal. Though SW is just recently gaining the fame they deserve, their original album, Ungod, is still the favorite of most of their long time fans.

Persons new to the group who have purchased a CD on the account of 'What do I have to do?' or 'Save Yourself' should definately give this music a try. The blaring anger of Chris Hall in 'Throw' and the passion he sings with in 'Nothing' and 'ACF' are incomparable to anything else. Also featured on the CD is the skill of Stewart Zemekis before he left to join Robert Patrick in Filter (I hope I got the names right). He adds a new dimension to some of the tracks (such as Ungod) that fans of either band will enjoy.

I would go as far to say that anyone who has a soul should feel something in this music. The band's zeal seems to have slowly faded in each successive album but here in Ungod it is at its zenith. If you only buy one CD in your entire life it should be this one.

-Zilean

then watered down NIN is great.

While probably not their most diverse album (I would give the nod to Darkest Days) this is probably right up there with Darkest Days as their best. If nothing else, it's their most depressing.

Lost, which is pretty much an intro to Control is great, and Control doesn't break the momentum. 'Nothing' would be a heck of a lot better if they rewrote the insessive, 'I don't want it, I don't need it' lyrics (I heard you the first 10 times Chris)..

Acf is a great lead up to the meat of the album, which consists of Lies, Ungod, Throw, and Violent Mood Swings. Throw is by far the best track on the CD. An angst riddled, depressing song that just never seems to let up.

Red and White and Can't Happen Here bring the tone of the album down to an even more depressing state. In fact, by the end of Can't Happen Here, you pretty much really don't want to do anything except listen to the CD again...

So do yourself a favor.. Go ahead and buy this CD. If you don't want to listen to it know, put it away until that 'special little lady' rips your heart out, throws it on the ground and stomps all over it. Then get it out and play it. Will it help? No. Will it make you feel any better? No, but it will give you a better excuse for being so d@mn depressed.

Stabbing Westward's music provides spiritual empathy for all that listen to it. At once brutal (read: Violent Mood Swings) and dark (Red on White), this is the album that brought one of my favorite bands onto the music scene.

Those of you who own other SW albums, and not this one, should note that the personal is slightly different on this release. The former guitarist for Filter, and the current (?) drummer for the AZ band Machines of Loving Grace were personnel on this release, and did much of the song writing. The result is a cross between Depeche Mode and NIN, but is still astounding, nonetheless.

First of all, if you had purchased "Ungod" like I did when it first came out you would agree with me that it is their best work. I really liked their two follow-ups. Although they come don't even come close to the original. Ungod id one of the darkest albums I have ever heard. If you have ever been stomped on, lost someone or feel entirely alone in this world, buy this cd and listen to it from beginning to end. It will actually make you feel better! You will not regret it. As for the same guitar line from the Filter song, this cd was out before Filter so thats where Filter got it from. Buy this cd and enjoy!

I've got all three of their albums. This may be their first album, but I got this one last. I only got it for the fact it was SW. I hadn't heard anything from this album, and it took me forever to find it, but when I finally did, and listened, I was SO pleased!

It is so strong from beginning (Lost) to end (Can't Happen Here), that I don't know which one I like the most. I just can't believe they were rather unsuccessful with this album. I thought it was so funny that the title track had the same guitar line as Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot", and that they're both about suicide. (For those who don't know the story behind that, SW had a guy named Stuart Zechman who was also with Filter.) The first time I heard "Can't Happen Here," I freaked out it was so spooky. ACF (That stands for the first 3 chords in the song) is probably my favorite song. Other notables are Control, Lies, Violent Mood Swings (the original version they did to get signed with Columbia, was about the book "The Vampire Lestat"), and Red On White. I wish these guys would come to here!

All in all, I can say that Stabbing Westward is my favorite band ever, and it won't change at all.

I can't believe I didn't pick up this album until this past summer. It's one of the best debuts I've ever heard. Forget what you've read about Stabbing Westward being another NIN spin-off. They are one of the most unique industrial bands out there. Lead singer Christopher Hall's voice fits in perfectly with the music being played. Give this a listen to and it just might become your favorite SW album. My favorites on this CD are "Control", "Nothing", "ACF", and "Lies".

Something to note: Listen to the chorus of "Ungod" and Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot" and you'll notice the guitar riffs are the same. That's because guitarist Stuart Zechman played in both bands at the time and accidently played the same riff for each song.

Very heavy, very organic, very electronic. One would find it hard to believe that those three descriptions, essentially opposites in the music world, could all be incorporated into only one CD. Still, Stabbing Westward's debut album, Ungod, amazingly displays all of these qualities. How did they manage to combine these unlike traits into one piece of work? It is hard to pinpoint. One explanation is that the live drums incorporated into the CD do not drown out the other instruments, leading to a heavier, more organic sound. In addition, the keyboards and programming are used to enhance, not compete with, the other instruments, further deepening the sound while adding an electronic feel to the music. Nevertheless, however hard it may be to figure out how they mixed together heavy, organic, and electronic sounds successfully, Stabbing Westward uses their uniqueness to their advantage. This holds especially true on the heaviest and catchiest track, "Violent Mood Swings." While Chris Halls (vocals, keyboards) lets his groans and screams ring out, the digitally enhanced guitars and bass pulse through the listener rapidly, the keyboard riffs give powerful dance undertones, and the live drums unify all the sounds to make one controlled yet thrashing piece. Still, Ungod's power also works as well on more sedate tracks, such as "ACF." During that song, a heavy yet emotional bass hooks the listener into the song, leading him or her to quiet vocal cooning, and then slams him or her into dark guitars accented by thick keyboard lines. Therefore, overall, Stabbing Westward shows promise as well as a great deal of uniqueness on Ungod, so they just need to sit back, relax, and watch their star rise over the industrial/metal world.

I first saw the video for the song "Nothing" on Much Music in mid 1994. IN the summer of 1994 I found the CD (I was poor) in a second hand CD shop and bought it immediately. This was a few months after having seen the Nothing video ONE TIME ONLY - but from the video I knew I liked the sound. I liked NIN, Ministry, PWEI and this sound was right along those lines.
Boy am I glad I picked this CD up. It was stunning. I do like some of Stabbing Westward's other albums tremendously but this one takes the cake. It really is a powerful journey that flows nicely from start to finish with extremely catchy floor-pounding songs. Yes that's right floor-pounding. The way this album was recorded is perfect. If you like the thundering bass of Tool's "Undertow" or Rage Against The Machine's eponymous debut then you'll love the levels the kick drum and bass are recorded on this album. Very nice and deep to give your subs a true workout without being intrusive of the rest of the music.
Naturally this CD is best played loud! :-)
From the beginning you can see why there are comparison's to Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine and Broken EP releases. It is wise to keep in mind though that Ungod was released on February 15th, 1994 whilst The Downward Spiral was released a few weeks later on March 8th, 1994 - so there's no logic in saying anything on Ungod was borrowed from Trent's Spiral.
The album's intro leads to Control which opens with a machine gun barrage of guitar and drums. The verse hits you with hardly any guitar but great synth sounds and a bass line to die for that gives new meaning to the saying, "bass - how low can you go?" Hearing this first song Control really let me know I was in for a treat with this record.
Nothing, which was Stabbing Westward's first ever single, is probably my least favourite song on the album. It's not bad but the rest of the album I think was far better.
ACF, Lies and Ungod blend so well you will no doubt listen to them through quite a few times in this order. Lies and Violent Mood Swings are the flat out heaviest songs on the album. I fond myself squeezing a fist when I listen to Violent Mood Swings, it really is a very danceable yet "kick you in the teeth" kind of song. Red and White seems to borrow a little from "Help Me I Am In Hell" by NIN but has much more to the beginning of the song (including lyrics)
The final track on the album, Can't Happen Here, is my absolute favourite. This song is just perfect and I have no doubt even now that to add or remove anything from this song would be to ruin it. Just when you think you're approching the end of the album the band comes exploding through your mind with the refrain "It just can't happen here." What I really love about this refrain at the end is they don't ruin it by only playing it once or twice - it comes at you a good eight times! The drums are perfect and if you don't find yourself with a body full of taut tendons then you weren't really listening. This is the most powerful song off the album. Isn't that one of the best ways to end an album? To start strong and finish strong? You may feel almost out of breath at the conclusion of this album, which is why the three bell-tones to end the album give you that brief cool down!
I was fortunate enough on October 24th, 1994 to see Stabbing Westward open up for Killing Joke at The Opera House in Toronto, Ontario. They were touring their first album and their show was so powerful. I think I was the only person at the show to have a Stabbing Westward t-shirt on but by the end of their set I think everyone had the name Stabbing Westward on their minds.
This is truly one of the better albums of the 90's. Do yourself a favour and check it out particularly if you like Stabbing Westward's other material. You will not be dissappointed with this purchase.