Quick Track Review: The Unravelling – “Revolt”

Posted by RiffYou On April 27, 2015 0 Comment

When life takes a challenging turn for someone, one of two things usually happens: the person curls up in a ball and is paralyzed by it, or the person gets more motivated than ever to make the most of his time on planet earth.

For Calgary, Alberta industrial rock duo The Unravelling, “Revolt” represents an intense re-emergence – five years in the making – of a band that could’ve let cancer keep it from ever progressing.

In 2011, The Unravelling’s lead vocalist Steve Moore was diagnosed with cancer, thus derailing the momentum gained from the band’s 2010 debut, 13 Arcane Hymns. Critical acclaim be damned, Moore needed to get better.

Instead of pulling the plug on the band, Moore’s creative partner in The Unravelling, Gus De Beauville, waited for health to come about. Once it did, De Beauville forwarded Moore the music that can be heard on “Revolt.”

Moore’s reaction was strong: “It immediately struck me on a very deep level,” he explains.

With “Revolt,” listeners are given a starch, dark, yet fierce industrial track that trudges through life’s challenges and society’s misgivings. Easily, it balances the grit of early-era Nine Inch Nails recordings, with the more progressive spirit of Tool.

By no means is there a happiness or joyful tone of being alive here, but “Revolt” sure feels like the product of a band that’s been to the edge and back, but no longer fears the possibility of that journey ever happening again.

Click here to stream “Revolt.”