Metalcore veterans UNEARTH has launched the second single, entitled “Mother Betrayal“, from their forthcoming eighth album, “The Wretched; The Ruinous”, slated to be released on May 5, 2023.
Unearth has made a triumphant return, with the announcement of their forthcoming album, “The Wretched; The Ruinous”, marking their first release in five years. The single, which shares the title with the album, premiered on Sirius XM Liquid Metal and has dominated the top spot on “The Devil’s Dozen” for an impressive three weeks.
The album, produced once again by Will Putney, serves as a follow-up to their 2018 studio offering, “Extinction(s)”. It’s worth noting that the band has confirmed the departure of founding guitarist Ken Susi, which was previously disclosed by Susi himself in October 2022. Vocalist Trevor Phipps attributed the split to a need for some distance between them. Despite this change, the new single demonstrates the band’s impressive musicianship and confirms that they are still in top form.
UNEARTH vocalist Trevor Phipps commented: “‘Mother Betrayal’ is an ominous banger heavily laden with the melodic death metal, thrash and metallic hardcore combination that has signified our sound since the beginning. It kicks up the aggression and ferocity beyond previous recordings while also veering into new territories musically, vocally and structurally. ‘Mother Betrayal’ is a warning that we are smashing past multiple ecological tipping points caused by our dependence on fossil fuels that will forever alter life on our planet.”
UNEARTH’s latest album, “The Wretched; The Ruinous”, not only amplifies their fusion of metal and hardcore, but also goes beyond their previous back-to-basics approach in 2018’s “Extinction(s)” by incorporating elements from their earlier works dating back to their 2004 breakthrough album “The Oncoming Storm”. The founding members of UNEARTH, Trevor Phipps and Buz McGrath, consider this album as the start of a new chapter for the band.
During the pandemic, Buz took the time to write the songs for the album, which Trevor notes pushed him to step outside of his comfort zone and explore the past and present of UNEARTH. With Buz’s new song structures and incorporation of new elements, Trevor found inspiration to be more diverse vocally. Even though “The Wretched; The Ruinous” still embodies UNEARTH’s signature sound, it stands out as their most dynamic record to date.
“The Wretched; The Ruinous’ is more than just an album to UNEARTH’s frontman; it is a statement on the current state of the world. “This record is about the eight billion people living on this planet,” he explains. “We have caused a man-made mass extinction event and have been too slow to address the consequences. Extreme weather, drought, famine, disease, erosion of land, culture wars, civil wars, wars for natural resources, and the displacement of billions of people are all a current reality. This isn’t a future problem; it is a now problem, and I take this record to talk about it. As a species, we are quickly turning our once Garden Of Eden into our future hellscape.”
However, the album isn’t all doom and gloom, as Trevor Phipps notes, “On the track ‘Call Of Existence,’ I talk about how we can turn this around with swift, drastic changes to our emissions and consumption of natural resources. There is a responsible way forward that will benefit all life on our planet, and we have to embrace and act on that responsibility now.”
UNEARTH β Hell on Earth Tour 2023 with Misery Index, Year Of The Knife, Turbid North and Leach:
04/01: Dortmund, Germany β Junkyard
04/02: Antwerp, Belgium β Trix
04/05: Munchen, Germany β Backstage
04/04: Freiburg, Germany β Crash
04/05: Eindhoven, Netherlands β Dynamo
04/06: Sheffield, UK β Corporation
04/07: Leeds, UK β The Warehouse
04/08: London, UK β Islington Assembly Hall
04/09: Lille, France β The Black Lab
04/10: Paris, France β La Machine Du Moulin Rouge
04/11: Stuttgart, Germany β Im Wizemann
04/12: Weinheim, Germany β Cafe Central
04/13: Cottbus, Germany β Gladhouse
04/14: Leer, Germany β Zollhaus
04/15: Chemnitz, Germany β AJZ Chemnitz
04/16: Ostrava, Czechoslovakia β Barrak Music Club
04/17: Berlin, Germany β SO36
04/18: Hamburg, Germany β Bahnhof Pauli
04/19: Copenhagen, Denmark β Pumpehuset
04/20: Gothenburg, Sweden β Musikens Hus
04/21: Stockholm, Sweden β Slaktkyrkan
UNEARTH Festival appearances:
Milwaukee Metal Fest: Date: 5/28/2023 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Graspop Metal Meeting: Date: 6/15/2023 Location: Dessel, Belgium
Hellfest 2023: Date: 6/16/2023 Location: Clisson, France
Pitfest: Date: 6/30/2023 Location: Emmen, Netherlands
Reality Bites Fest: Date: 7/2/2023 Location: Saarbrucken, Germany
