SATURNISM UNFOLDS

Undefined are a band that seems to have dived under the radar for the death metal community outside of their home country of Spain. Now more recently having released a full-length album, their EP 'Saturnism Unfolds' first introduced metal fans to their melodic, yet aggressive sound. A four track batch of songs, Undefined makes it clear that they are a capable act here, and while rarely veering towards the technical side of the death metal spectrum, the band's playing abilities are never in question. All the same, 'Saturnism Unfolds' delivers little that surprises me by this point, and at the stage of this EP, they have not yet found a sound to call their own.

Undefined is best described as a melodic death metal band, although by that standard, they rely quite heavily on aggressive riffs, rather than pretty-sounding leads or keyboards. At their heaviest, Undefined have a pretty straightforward death metal sound, with chugging riffs and the sort of growls that will not come as any surprise to veterans of the death metal genre. Undefined sharpen up their sound with some progressive tendencies however, best represented by some longer-than-average compositions, and the feature of acoustic passages, not at all unlike what Opeth is known to do. Despite the perceived lack of originality, it is still possible to do great things with traveled territory, but Undefined seem to lack any special edge to their sound that could make them stand out. The riffs are heavy, but lack hooks or power. The growls are generic, and the attempts at clean vocals thrown about the EP are more of a failed experiment than anything.

Undefined would go to tighten up their style with 'Of Xenoglossy And Saturn', and while their EP demonstrates that the band have chops, the cookie cut death metal approach Undefined takes leaves me feeling underwhelmed.