Review Summary: Unsane deliver a higher quality, more metal album.
Occupational Hazard is Unsane's second album with bassist/vocalist David Curran. This album is similar to the last album, but heavier and with better songs. Occupational Hazard was released on Relapse Records in 1998.
(interesting fact:Pig Destroyer of the same label covered a song from this album called "Understand")
Unsane at this point were pretty close to breaking up due to issues of violence and moving drom one location to another. That is all and here is the review.....
Occupational Hazard is rated slightly higher than Scattered(the album before this) simply because the songwriting is better. The riffs are heavier and catchier, the vocals are angrier and more distorted and the bass and drums are more audible this time around. Everything about this album is better. It's an improvement from the last one. All the instruments are just performed better.
The guitar playing is extremely catchy and on here, the riffs aren't based on making as much noise as possible, they're more based on songwriting. The guitar playing is a lot less bluesy and has more heavy metal and grindcore influences than before. The vocals tend to be a noise rock-meets-grindcore style too. They're deeper and throatier. There is even a bit of a growl in there too. Yet some how the vocals and lyrics are clearer and tend to be either depressing or violent lyrics. songs such as
Comitted have lyrics like
Need for correction. I stand with a gun in my hand. It's time for inspection.Wipe off the blood on your hands that tend to be of a violent and nihilistic nature. Other than that, there isn't much else to say about the other instruments except that they're more rhythmic and groovy on this record.
Songs such as the previously mentioned
Comitted and
Sick tend to be slow, heavy drawls more akin to sludge metal than noise rock with hard,pounding and slow moving riffs. Some faster songs include
Over Me and
Hazmat.Overall the album is very good and contributes itself as one of the best noise-metal releases of the 1990's
