2004 was the year in which the three founding members, Sönke Lau, Claus Wiechert and Guido Hettwer, gave light to a reborn Unrest, now being accompanied by Marco Liedtke on guitars and Andre Neuhaus on the bass. Now, two years later, they are here with a brand new album: Back to the Roots.

The album title says it all… Unrest is back and they still know how to create awesome heart pounding heavy metal! The first song, ‘Go to Hell’, immediately makes me feel like I’m back in the eighties, not that I ever was there but you get the idea. The more songs I listen to, the more convinced I get that Unrest still have the ability to continue their path of success that they once had to leave. Songs like ‘Far, Far Away’ and ‘Bang Your Head’ immediately make you sing along to the fine catchy melodies and, how ironic, make you want to bang your head. With fast ‘n heavy metal drums, raw and melodic guitar riffs these guys create awesome heavy metal sounds. Something that is, in my opinion, pretty rare nowadays. Add to that Sönke Lau’s great charismatic voice and things can’t go wrong anymore.

 

Another thing that I like a lot is that although the songs are within the same tempo and genre, they don’t sound a bit like each other. The versatility of Lau’s voice deserves being mentioned as well. Going from heavy and raw to clean and high, he gives the songs just that little bit more they need, to be perfect. A live performance of Unrest must be great. These songs contain so much power and spirit, that I have it hard to believe that they would let anyone untouched.

 

This album is definitely worth buying for fans of that good old heavy, but also for everyone who loves a steady rhythm with great melodies. Unrest went back to the roots, but I’m sure if that's where they will stay…