Unhoped – Sonic Violence – Album Review

Source // Unhoped

Holy fucking fuck! All those who had lost hope in hearing a band deliver a masterclass in death/thrash in 2016 take heed, Finland’s Unhoped truly do unleash sonic violence on this, their 2nd full length album, and it’s a heady trip back to the glory days of Beneath The Remains-era Sepultura, Pleasure To Kill-era Kreator and the more modern ausgebombt of Sodom.

A full on death/thrash assault on the senses, Unhoped threaten to derail harder and heavier than a freight train ferrying a shit tonne of hideously overweight elephants and they often hit unparralelled levels of chugging riff nirvana in the process. In particular, “Human Disgrace” unleashes all hell in a squeal of atonal solo’s, high-pitched yelps, Mille Petrozza-esque growls and serious groove, it’s all so damn addictive that mile-wide-grins are mandatory….as is uncontrollable, neck-wrecking head-banging!

With no respite and no care for your ravaged eardrums, Unhoped expertly channel the masters of this particular craft – besides those already mentioned there’s a definite Exodus, Opprobrium and Slayer vibe going on – and yet they still retain an identity of their own. Sonic Violence may be a respectful nod to the past but these lads are here to rip shit up and they’re doing it with their own arsenal of ball-breaking riffs; a tired rehash of death/thrash past glories this is definitely not. Even the mid-paced hammering of “No Man’s Land” provides the requisite metal hit, bulldozing its way in to your brain as insistently as each and every one of the outstanding tracks found here.

All hope is in fact….found, Finland’s foremost ‘frash’ fiends have conjured a mini masterpiece of “sonic fucking violence”! 9/10

Source // Unhoped