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These are reviews of our CD's. Reviews of our first CD are lower on this page.
Reviews of our CD 'Nine Inch Males'
That the CD can be downloaded for free doesn't mean that it isn't quality. Read these complete reviews and find out what the professional press thinks about what we do.
 Industrializedmetal.tk wrote:
"Vote: 95/100"
Selection: They’ve improved a lot since ‘Braindead Poets’. They’d already found their own style back then, and managed to make it even better. / Fans of Xe-None, Reel, MXD and Die Krupps who haven’t tried this band, do not waste any time anymore!
Original review: One of the few Belgian bands on this webzine is Unk! This dance metal trio managed to surprise me a while ago with their debut album ‘Braindead Poets’ where they managed to present a creative and catchy mix between both the dance and the metal worlds. After that release, Unk! created some new tracks and shot their first video. Nowadays they are back on track with their new record called Nine Inch Males, which is (just as their previous CD and their video clip) downloadable completely for free from their official site www.unk.be.
The first song is called ‘Try This’. It contains a catchy dancebeat, rock ‘n’ roll guitarwork and a chorus that seems perfect to sing along with. ‘Shut up & Dance’ is the next track, featuring ex-Prodigy guitarplayer Gizz Butt. This track is more metal based, though not less danceable. The technolike intermezzo is surprisingly followed by an excellent guitar solo without losing the original intentions of this song. Maybe the best track of the album! ‘We Are Unk!’ was already known to me because of the video clip of this track. This track features bouncing dancebeats, powerful metal guitars and catchy vocal lines. Also, one of the best tracks of this album. ‘Soulfire’ is the next song with a guest musician, namely Angelica Leyva. This track has an EBM/future pop basis, while powerful guitar parts and modern synth lines are added slightly. Next track is called ‘Amy Lynn's Voice’. This track contains marching beats, pitched vocal works and trance synth lines. ‘Dirty little Secrets’ has a metal intro, but afterwards the track gets old school. A little touch of Nine Inch Nails can be heard here and there too (think of the couplets of ‘Sin’ for example). ‘Shub Niggurath Come’ has a very weird title, so I had no idea what to expect. The song happened to have a drum 'n' bass attitude which resulted in a gentle and easy listening track. ‘Something's going down’ features another guest musician, namely Rosalien Ollevier. This track is maybe the most pure dance track on the album, with very few guitars. ‘Biozyn’ is the only track on this album that I dislike. They took their experimentation attitude a little bit too far, which resulted in some weird rap metal track. Not sure what to say more about this track.
With exception of the final track, this Unk! album proved to me that they’ve improved a lot since ‘Braindead Poets’. They’ve already found their own style back then, and they managed to make it even better. Fans of Xe-None, Reel, MXD and Die Krupps who haven’t tried this band, do not waste any time anymore! It’s hard to believe that this album is already finished after 38 minutes to be honest...
Vote: 95 / 100
Industrializedmetal.tk
Burzukh of Metal Madness website wrote:
"Look no further for your next Rock dance party"
Selection: I know I would rather dance to this than to some euro-techno or trance crap anyday. Dance, motherfucker, dance!
Original review: The bands page of this website states it contains a list of Metal that you need to hear and it includes descriptions and downloadable releases of bands that matter. It contains the following review: Though undoubtedly miles apart from the slash 'n' burn / gloom 'n' doom / seek 'n' destroy projects on this web page, this is neverthless still edgy enough to qualify as industrial metal. It is a fun (remember 'fun' ?) danceable and witty project from three crazy guys (also a change from the above one man armies). Bizarrely, the input of 3 individuals results in a more open, sparser sound (again a change from the wall-of-obliteration productions above) where every note, sample and loop is used to maximum effect. I know I would rather dance to this than to some Euro-Techno or Trance crap anyday. Funky, funny yet still slightly bizarre and bitter in places, look no further for your next Rock dance party albums. Dance, motherfucker, dance!
Metal Madness (Discover the Cutting Edge of Metal)
Reviews of our CD 'Braindead Poets'
Ph. of Beyond Webzine wrote:
"This first opus is an essential release"
Selection in English: ...a curiosity that's worth it's weight of decibels... / ...'Rammstein' has tried to seduce the public with their "Tanz Metal", but it was too square, too repititive, too industrial and in the end not very danceable... / ...In Unk!'s case on the other hand these 9 songs are major dance tracks... / ...almost perfect arrangements & production... / ...This first opus is an essential release...
Original review in French: UNK!, "BrainDead Poets", CD-R, 87/100, Electro/Dance Rock-Metal, Belgique.
Attention, nous tenons dans les mains une curiosité sonore qui vaut son pesant de décibels... BrainDead Poets débute par un sample à la teinte électronique, introduction au titre "Big Sister" rapidement agrémentée par la suite par une guitare saturée au son tranché, aux riffs Rock et Metal. Présentée ainsi, la formule semble des plus simples : un alliage entre ambiances Dance et consonances technoïdes, beats infernaux, une brillance Electro d'antan, tout en conservant une structure Rock/Metal... Rammstein, me direz-vous, a tenté de séduire le "grand public" avec son "Tanz Metal", musique cependant beaucoup trop martiale, trop répétitive, trop industrielle et finalement peu dansante. Ici, le groove est une composante importante, faisant de ces neuf titres des pièces dansantes majeures. Unk ! représente la rencontre de Oomph ! avec Front 242, comme en témoignent les morceaux les plus inspirés, tels que : "Reboot" (le titre le plus Rock de l'album), " Playstation" ou encore "By Rule Of Thumb". La qualité des arrangements et la production presque sans faille font de ce premier opus un disque indispensable...
Beyond webzine
Federico Marongiu of Music Extreme wrote:
"A step forward for Metal and for extreme music in general"
Selection: ...This is a really original release... / ...this trio has created a new style which could become popular... / ...a step forward for Metal and for extreme music in general...
Original review: Dance metal !!!! Yes, this guys have succesfully mixed dancing beats and rhythms wityh the aggression of heavy metal guitars. Plus they have a certain industrial atmosphere in several of the tracks. The vocals are clean and have a certain cybernetic and melancholic feeling in tracks like "Disco Techno". Plus there are also some vocals that are more extreme and guttural. This is a really original release and this trio has maybe created a style that can be certainly popular and that deserves to be explored a lot. Here there are nine tracks well developed over dancing beats and loops where the main thing is to make an intelligent fusion with metal sounds with killer guitars. I think this is a step forward for metal style and for extreme music in general.
Favorite tracks: "Disco Techno", "Reboot" and "By Rule of Thumb"
Music Extreme website
fRED of Nameless webzine wrote:
"It's an aural orgy"
Selection in English: ...It's some sort of
a musical UFO... / ...This trio is surprising... / ...it's
an aural orgy... / ...This CD is a gem...
Original review in French: D'emblée,
avant même la première écoute, cet album
ne laisse aucun doute quant à la direction prise :
de la dérision certainement, un peu de méchants,
mais surtout, une sorte d'ovni musical. Des preuves ? Ben,
n'allons pas les chercher trop loin : cette couverture aux
tons roses, couronnée de trois gaillards pathético-gothiques
armés de lunettes de soleil dans lesquelles se reflète
un décor rosé, et puis ce nom, braindead poets,
qui, en quelque sorte, résume un peu tout. Unk!, en
effet, est loin de faire dans la dentelle. Originaire d'une
région où on fabrique certainement plus de bière
que de dentelle, ce trio louvaniste ne lasse pas d'étonner.
Qui aurait pu imaginer, un jour, retrouver sur une même
plaque les sonorités qui le faisaient danser sous chapiteau,
le samedi soir, avant de sortir au Zillion ou autre boîte
à la mode, sonorités mixées aux riffs
aguicheurs de toute une génération de métalleux
refoulés ? En d'autres mots, qui aurait, un jour, imaginé
entendre du dance-metal ? Pas moi. Mais voilà,
après un concert qui, malgré les piteuses conditions
sonores, a bel et bien éveillé en moi quelque
curiosité, j'hérite de cet album, première
démo, et le place délicatement dans ma chaîne.
Quelle orgie sonore s'étale alors dans mon appartement
! Ça commence doucement, un soupçon de beats,
puis arrive un riff accrocheur à la clawfinger &
co et la bête est lâchée. Je n'en dirai
pas plus. Si ce n'est que s'il existe un album à écouter
avec dérision et bonne humeur, c'est bien celui-ci
! Pour pimenter vos bonnes vieilles soirées entre compagnons
de musique, ou pour dégoûter définitivement
votre belle-mère de vos penchants musicaux. Un véritable
bijou néo-post-chose! Voire peut-être aussi.
Nameless
webzine
Gerardo of Industrializedmetal.tk wrote:
"I cannot think of a band to compare with Unk!"
Selection: ...this surprised me in a very
positive way... / ...I cannot think of a band to compare
with UNK!...
Original review: Some dance metal project
is born in Belgium: UNK! makes music in vein of bands like
XE-NONE, DOPE STARS INC and more bands like that. But UNK!
is way different and way more experimental with almost all
kind of styles. On their website their whole cd is downloadable.
Braindead Poets is the given name to the online album. And
damn sure, this surprised me in a very positive way. Rap,
metal, rock, pop, dance, and even a little techno: this band
combines these styles into an avant-garde mix resulting in
dance metal. I hear you think: this must be very special?
Yes indeed! I cannot think about a band to compare with UNK!.
If you ask me what the best song is on the album, I simply
cannot decide because the songs are too different from eachother.
Experimental stuff.. the variety of the vocals makes this
album even more unique. So, if you feel to dance but hate
the Dj Tiesto music, grab this! Thank you people, I found
an original band. Can’t wait for the new virtual album
to appear! Vote: 84 / 100
Industrializedmetal.tk
Macxz of Spiderpower wrote:
"Brilliantly executed music"
Original review: From Belgium we have a new artist being featured on Spiderpowered Selection Tuesday night! UNK! are a dance metal band who have sucessfully combined the twin genres into a usable and dancable format. Brilliantly executed music that I have to admit had me dancing around the studio!!! If you want to sample their music head over to http://www.unk.be where they have their cd for download. among other goodies. Now we know from where Keanu Reeves got his dress sense ;)
Spiderpower web radio
UberHerzSterben wrote on Mixposure:
"Seriously Kickass"
Original review: Seriously Kickass. This
song ('We are Unk!') kicks major ass, it's the kind of fried
gold that can only come from the Industrial scene in Europe,
The main guitar riff is really hardcore, and the song sounds
similar to Eisbrecher. Kickass guitar solo too.
Mixposure
Gill Whitehurst wrote on Mixposure:
"Warning... Grows on you"
Original review: Warning... 'We are Unk!'
grows on you. First there's this beat drawing you in. Then
these heavy guys telling you it'll be OK whilst the music
swirls your head round. Loved the guitars, Hawkwind like middle
bit. I Just wish I hadn't got the idea that my body and mind
might be actually physically twisted for me into the stratosphere
if I hung around long enough. Has to be danced to. Will do...
Mixposure
Raz wrote on Mixposure:
"Great sounds going on here"
Original review: I agree. 'We are Unk!' is
a cool song. Sounds a little like Rob Zombie. Great sounds
goin on here. High energy. At first I didnt like the sound
of the bass drum but it grew on me towards the end. I'd bring
the guitar up just a bit. It's a nice touch...
Mixposure
David Finney wrote to us:
"A refreshing piece of magic"
I discovered your music by sheer accident, and am I happy I have!
Wow! what a refreshing piece of magic you have created! Your music puts "balls" into dance, and gives dance fans a chance to savor great metal
riffs. What a beautiful mix!
David Rogers wrote to us:
"BAM!"
I was just searching for some new music, getting tired of all the old metal that's just guitars, drums and screaming over and over, and after a while most pure techno gets a bit boring (except at raves) and BAM! I find you guys. Your music is really fresh, stylish, energetic, electrified, powerful and not too serious at the same time and it combines techno with metal really well. I don't really know any bands like you guys, it's a bit of a new genre, and that's good. I like metal and techno, but only a select few artists that solely produce metal or techno make quality music, whereas combining the two like you guys have works really well.
Andy Rogers wrote to us:
"Awesome"
This is fuckin' awsome. The heavier faster dance beats are the best. I love 'move it', 'So beautiful' rocks and 'Rule of thumb' is excellent. What more can I say? And all for free too!!!! Thank you very much!
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