The Unseen - Internal Salvation

LABEL:

Hellcat

GENRE:

Punk

RELEASE:

July 10, 2007

LENGTH:

30 min 24 sec

RATING:

Ah, yes... another album from the band that will forever symbolize the punk angst from my high school years. Make no mistake about it, when I was young and angry... well, I'm still somewhat young and I'm still pretty angry... when is was really young and angry, I really loved this band. They were loud, fast, political, and of course, angry. Representing the lower rung of modern society, The Unseen helped people like me express their anger through street punk, thrash dancing, mohawks, patches and studs. In retrospect, most of the band's work isn't anything to write home about, but with the increasingly crowded field of dime-a-dozen "punx" in the underground scene, their early work was pretty impressive. However, over time, they begun to show their age. While each album become more polished and the lyrics grew more tired and repetitive, The Unseen managed to hold my interest to at least a some degree.

After they released their last album, I had decided that they weren't really my cup of tea anymore and we sort of parted ways. They still hold a special place in my heart, but I've pretty much outgrown them. So why the hell am I reviewing this? I guess I just wanted to see how they were doing... you know, check in to see if they were doing fine without me. The answer is a resounding, "um... maybe?" They're still angry, but they're older and kind of running out of ideas. Overall, Internal Salvation is kind of ridiculous. I mean, it's supposed to be serious. I get that. But some of the songs have these weird voice over transitions, where someone spouts some socio-political lower class gutter punk rhetoric. Leave the sloganeering to Anti-Flag, will ya? And about the album art... seriously? Is that really a skeleton just floating around in the background? The lyrics aren't really creative at all. The songs kind of sound the same, so I don't feel like I can really give it much of a thorough evaluation, so screw it.

Maybe I'm just showing my age, but I really can't get excited about these punks like I used to. For an example of how a band like this should have turned out, check out the progression of the band that Mark Unseen used to be a part of: A Global Threat. I don't feel quite as silly listening to them. If you're into street punk, you might like The Unseen, but if you're one of those mega-punx, then you probably think they sold out anyway. I mean, they are on Hellcat, where punks go to die. I guess I should probably give this album a rating... well, how about two stars? Sure, why not?