Rock Review: Skillet's Unleashed is Downright Boring

There is nothing I find more irritating than when a good rock or metal band decides they need to add electronic nonsense or jarring synths to their sound. These elements can be used tastefully, but they can also be so prominent that they drown out the rest of the instruments and overwhelm the listener. There's one way to make it even worse--adding obnoxious effects to the vocals, and in some cases such obvious pitch correction that it grates on the ears. With Skillet's Unleashed, we see the worst of such bad decisions.

Save that shit for mainstream pop artists trying to sell us boring, banal songs. I remember being thrilled by the sheer passion on albums like Comatose and Collide. Everything was so raw and believable, but now Skillet's sound is so decked out with bells and whistles that it seems fake. I understand the desire to not want to sound too similar from album to album, but there's a way to change things up with guitars, piano, strings, drums, and vocals without adding artificial elements that sound bad when sampled in a live setting. To be as blunt as possible--Unleashed sounds like a very basic rock album with an early 90's video game on full volume in the background.  

Lyrically, I'm disappointed to say that nothing really stands out on this album. This is a surprise considering the band's penchant for darker songs like "The Older I Get" or dark but uplifting songs like "The Last Night." They were so good at thrilling fans lyrically, and it didn't require that fans were Christians to enjoy the music, either. Skillet has been among openly Christian bands that don't venture into preachy territory, which has always been a strength of theirs, but when the material is sub par and held down by too much fluff, not even that can make it worthwhile. Unleashed is simply boring.

Another element that made them unique was how prominent strings were on past releases. Comatose was absolutely refreshing in 2006 and still stands tall in 2016. Unleashed will be a collection of deep tracks 10 years from now. If anything makes this album worthwhile, it's the one great tune in "I Want to Live," which sounds as close to the Comatose days as any song on the album. There are also a couple of excellent guitar solos courtesy of lead guitarist Seth Morrison scattered throughout Unleashed.

Speaking of guitar solos, the album ends with an excellent solo backed by the most aggressive rhythm work on the album, which led me to think, "Where the hell was this the whole time?" The old cliche is "Don't fix what ain't broken," and perhaps Skillet should take that to heart for future releases. 3/10

Standout tracks:
"I Want to Live"