Unholy has been haunting East Coast venues for about a year; but their pedigree extends back a decade or more.  Unholy consists of Danny Johnson (vocals), Jonathan Dennison (guitar), Steve Caiello (guitar), Rick Argiro (bass) and Joe Murphy (drums).  Many of whom are former members of bands like: Godbelow (Dan Johnson and Joe Murphy), The Last Season (Johnson and Steve Caiello), The Promise, Path of Resistance, and Santa Sangre (Jonathan Dennison). This band's powerful and passionate doom-metal blew me away when I saw one of their first shows about a year ago.  Since then I've made an effort to catch Unholy’s performances as often as possible.

I'm pretty bad at "sounds like" comparisons, so I'll let the band speak for itself: "[Our] sound is directly influenced by thrash metal greats such as Carcass, Entombed, Slayer, Testament, The Haunted, and Metallica, and interspersed with rock touches reminiscent of Black Sabbath, Corrosion of Conformity, and Down."

I caught the March twenty-third show and later talked with Dennison about the band. Unholy threw itself into an energetic and driving set of old and new songs. They never let up; each song was a pounding, dynamic, and tightly played sonic tidal wave crashing over the audience.

If you are familiar with Johnson's earlier vocal work in Godbelow, rest assured, he hasn't lost any of his passion or command. He owned those songs, and the stage. Unlike more derivative thrash metal singers, Johnson's voice was an integral part of each song, a fifth instrument shredding the eardrums of the audience. A very powerful frontman.

Caiello and Dennison traded guitar solos and rhythm work. Each player's sound is distinctive to those familiar with the earlier bands of each guitarist, but weaved into a unique synthesis that marks the sound of Unholy. Rhythms are syncopated; the solos have a musicality missing from much of contemporary thrash metal. Through many songs, Caiello's long hair whipped around him, a halo of doom, while Dennison leapt up and into his guitar, ferociously shredding, and also providing back-up vocals.

The rhythm section provided a tight backbone with Argiro's surprisingly expert-for-a-newcomer bass playing. And Murphy's drum playing… well. You have to see it to believe it. Fuck Neil Peart. Long live Joe Murphy.

A couple of the songs played that night changed tempo mid-song, the band never missing a beat. In fact, some of the songs transitioned immediately into one another with a mastery reminiscent of the Bad Brains in its heyday.

The passion and energy of the live show is captured in the band's recordings and leads the music lover to repeated listenings. Unholy’s first release Awaken the Sleep was released by Closed Casket Activities last year. Each well-crafted song on this EP has a dark aura laced with head banging rhythm. I intended to give you the highlights, but I can’t find a best. The entire recording is masterful, with wailing vocals, tight rhythms, and forceful guitar.