When Unto Others said ‘OOWAGH! HOOWAGH!’, we felt that. The Oregon four-piece don’t just play classic heavy metal, they mainline it with full-throttle, broken-bottle adrenaline matched only by Jason Statham in Crank. Their first two records were zip-locked bags of lightning – can they strike thrice?
No. Yes. Sort of? Never, Neverland isn’t immediate like Mana or Strength, but as with termite infestations and Zumba classes, it spreads. Opening track Butterfly telegraphs more Him and Type O Negative than ever before, lush synth and low-end chug interlacing with lovelorn lyrics and Deathstars-ish backing vocals. It’s the closest they’ve brushed against the goth rock label with which they’re pegged, and they do indulge; Suicide Today’s punchline is top-shelf Pete Steele, sans any splayed arseholes or Playgirl spreads.
