Album Review: TETRARCH - Unstable

 

01. I'm Not Right
02. Negative Noise
03. Unstable
04. You Never Listen
05. Sick Of You
06. Take A Look Inside
07. Stitch Me Up
08. Addicted
09. Pushed Down
10. Trust Me

To my ears, Tetrarch are the archetypal Nu metal band, but have arrived two decades after the scene's peak. The first thing I thought about when I heard them were the similarities with the first Adema album. It's uncanny in places. Having listened to the whole album a few times now, I can hear parts that strongly remind me of certain bands or songs from that era, as though the influences had been cherry-picked to make the purest Nu Metal album possible. Imagine the best of Korn, Slipknot, Linkin Park, and Spineshank all mixed up in a blender and served to a new generation.

Aside from the nostalgia element, I genuinely think that Tetrarch have more to offer. OK, so we've established that there's nothing exactly 'original' about any of this material, but it certainly does sound fresh and vibrant. That's partly the excellent production, the song-writing, and their youth. Seeing a bunch of fifty year old millionaires singing about being beaten up in school or some kind of teenage angst has lost edge of authenticity over the years. Looking like they weren't even born when the first Papa Roach album came out, Tetrarch certainly present as the real deal, like they have very recently experienced the real-world traumas they're singing about. 

Let's not forget that the mainstream Metal world hasn't had a band like this for a while. Like how the Glam scene was suppressed in the mid-nineties, the media has torn down the Nu Metal scene for about fifteen years now. All of these journalists currently singing Tetrarch's praises are often the same ones who would have blatantly demolished them a few years ago. Anyway, I digress.

Unstable is a well written, perfectly performed Nu metal album with plenty of catchy tunes that will get dancefloors in Rock clubs across the globe moving like an earthquake has hit. It's all so listenable and likeable. You don't have to listen to this record seven times before you 'get it'. With this, you're straight in, loving it it from the start. After all, that was part of the charm and successful recipe the Nu Metal scene had. It's easy, catchy, relatable, and heavy as fuck. 

If I had to choose favourites, I'd have to go for You Never Listen, Negative Noise, I'm Not Right, Unstable, and Pushed Down. Hey, it's all great. If you like quality Nu Metal, don't overlook this record.