Unto Others donate the appendix Strength II ….Deep Cuts – also „6 previously unreleased tracks recorded during the “Strength” sessions (June 2020 – April 2021) w/ Arthur Rizk in Philadelphia, PA.“
Band boss Gabriel Franco on the record, previously only as Record Store Day-Release was available, now in a physically limited edition and digitally but also made accessible to the general public: “We wanted to do a double LP with Strength back in 2021, considering we had like 25 demos when we first met up with Arthur. However, the label made us whittle is down to fit on a standard LP. So we had to make the tough decision to cut a few songs we really liked. These were by no means “duds”, in my opinion they hold their weight with the rest of the songs on Strength. We just had to make the most cohesive record we might. In the end I think these songs will shine better this way and I’m glad to finally have them out.”
At least the insatiable squad loyal Unto Others– Followers are expected to be equally pleased with the release of Strenght II ….Deep Cuts be, although even this shouldn’t certify the accumulated 23 minutes as a completely essential substance.
After all, the four B-sides and two demo numbers (which seem latently randomly appended) (from Change of Heart and When The Hammer Strikes) although the level of Strenght fundamentally halfway, are catchy as typified standards, but fleeting and basically just once more “more of the same’ – and in the context of the album they would have been more on the side of the unspectacular fillers, which is manageable in itself.
Same Sailing In The Darkness is a briskly picking up speed, straight trademark song with pathetic Goth patina and embellished Smiths guitars as well as a theatrically released bridge into the meager solo, before the subsequent mood makers in the background (“Give it to me one last time!’) come across as involuntarily funny. In The Fire Of Youth the tropical, prancing holiday mood of the intro unfortunately proves to be the wrong track, as does the hard rock foundation before the fast, all-around convincing Business as Usual, while potential is wasted towards the middle of the record: Over Western Shores is rock solid Iron Maiden-Worship with great bass accents, but also a bit too sluggish chorus, which doesn’t let the whole structure find its compelling point and thus doesn’t quite become the intended anthem, while the 80s classic rock vibe in the Scorpions-Cover Passion Rules The Game Unto Others is fine, but ultimately there is little that is worth remembering in this reappraisal – apart from the realization that Franco once once more overdoes it with the vocal effects and the original remains unattainable.
To that extent Strenght II ….Deep Cuts All in all, no redundant scrap goods – but only routine material. Which, given the class of the band, is quite okay. (Scoringly even slightly more than that – the own atmosphere of Unto Others rounds up between points).
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