UNSHINE “Dark Half Rising”

UNSHINE
“Dark Half Rising”
(Massacre)
This Finnish band came to me as a surprise. It took me a while though to realize that they were Finns. Not that it matters anything where they are from really but I do have an extra keen eye to bands from the Nordic countries. It is somewhat of a brethren feeling. I have no idea what Turisa, Finntroll or Ensiferum or whatever all the Finnish elf (?) metal bands are called are all about as I’ve totally missed out on them. But from hearing this album by UNSHINE I get a feeling that this band could be lumped in with all the other trollish-like metal bands. If I sound harsh I can assure you that I am anything but harsh. The stuff that I’ve heard by the Finnish bands have been to my liking. And I like what I hear on this album too. JRR Tolkien has a lot to answer to. So seems role playing games too. I like that whole bigger than life look some of these bands have. I guess you could argue that UNSHINE are more of a goth metal band but I can’t shake the feeling that this would go down a storm too with all the Turisa/Ensiferum/Finntroll aficionados. Anders Ekdahl