Unbounded Terror confirms its comeback with a third album.
Formed in 1990 in Spain as Putrefact Monstruosity, the band changed its name the following year, and released three demos, an album and a split before going on hiatus. But in 2019, Vicente Payá (guitar, Decrapted, Golgotha…) recruited Andrew Spinosa (bass/vocals, Golgotha, In War), Jaume Porta (drums) and Juan Mateu (guitar) to release a second album, followed by Echoes of Despair in 2022 on Xtreem Music.
The album starts with the straightforward riffs of Organic Waste, a very raw composition which places massive screams on a solid basis, as well as some piercing leads to contrast with the heavy parts before letting melancholic sounds take over Rotting Myself. The sound remains powerful and efficient, mixing Old School influences with slower elements to strengthen this thick and catchy aspect before Echoes of Despair speeds the tempo up again with its simple yet aggressive riffs. We will also find some heavier moshparts, just like on Liars’ Punisher and its jerky rhythmic which calls for crowd movements and headbanging. Some epic lead parts are grafted on a lively blast while some distant lyrics come to create a worrying atmosphere, then Hypocrite Ignored comes back to Death Metal’s most raw and straightforward elements while keeping some quieter and more unhealthy parts. The band allows us a short break with They Are Not (What They Claim to Be) and its terrifying touches, before coming back to aggressiveness with Desolation Inside of Me. Haunting leads contrast with solid riffs just like on the slow introduction of Falling Into the Void, which will quickly become more powerful. The song’s warlike sound stays in those Old School and crushing, sometimes jerky roots, then Devil’s Church will reveal us dissonant and melancholic tones before becoming effective again. Riffs accelerate while letting melodious leads bring a touch of softness, in contrast to the sharp aggressiveness of Hungry For Your Hate and its devastating vivacity. Crazy harmonics mingle with energetic riffs, which give way to Something’s Rotten in Humanity, a rather similar track which will close the album as it started, in pure violence, sprinkled with heady harmonics.
Unbounded Terror’s influences make Echoes of Despair an effective album rooted in Old School Death Metal. It’s impossible to say if the riffs were created three months ago or thirty years ago, but what is sure is that they are forged in rage.
75/100