EP REVIEW: Uni/Vs – Something More

a well-crafted balance of their spacey atmospheric synths and pummelling, raw aggression, all topped with some impressive soaring melodies

Australia and heavy music are about as synonymous as Australia and deadly spiders. Or deadly snakes. Or deadly marsupials. Name a heavy genre, and that country will have an act that is at the forefront of it, and this is only thanks to the constantly growing and blossoming roots of the scene.

One such upcoming act is the Brisbane four-piece Uni/Vs, who have been working hard at grinding out their atmospheric yet immense metalcore sound for five years now. Finally, things are paying off for the band,  having recently toured Australia with scene legends Volumes. Now, to top it off, the band have dropped their most successful EP to date, ‘Something More’.

Arguably the band’s most concise and focused  effort to date, with a well-crafted balance of their spacey atmospheric synths and pummelling, raw aggression, all topped with some impressive soaring melodies that are strongest to date from the outfit. ‘Choosing Violence’ blows open the EP in a suitably raucous manner, with thunderous, groove laden guitars that chug along furiously. 

‘I Think I’m Better On My Own’ acts as the emotive centrepiece that the EP pivots around, a brief but powerful moment that allows the EP to slingshot into the highlight of ‘So Loveless’. The brooding electronics explode into an utterly ferocious guitar riff, whilst the band showcase some of their catchiest melodies tonight. The track culminates into a rapturous breakdown in the back half that commands you to spin kick the nearest passer-by.

What Uni/Vs possesses that makes them truly standout, however, is some stellar lyricism, importantly avoiding the tropes that have plagued the metalcore genre for years to provide genuinely powerful and compelling performances. ‘Without Your Light’ demonstrates this perfectly, bring the entire EP to a brilliant climax as the band repeatedly declares ‘Can you build me a heaven?/So when I burn the world down/You know where I am’ against a glittering wall of guitars and synths. 

‘Something More’ is a great example of what happens when a band truly focuses on their craft, and works on being themselves above all else. Uni/Vs consistently put out some of the most exciting and electrifying metalcore in the scene, and with their intense work ethic, it’s hard not imagine a future with them as headliners in demand. 

RATING: 77/100 – Mostly Very Good

For Fans Of: Architects, Stray From The Path, Our Hollow Our Home, Northlane

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Twitter // Spotify