Pretty unique. I'd say there's some obvious Carcass influence (Heartwork era), but that's really more in the tone and a few of the more chunky bits. They definitely fall into the "melodic death" category, but not like what you're probably used to. Much, much heavier on the death end. There's also some thrash influence (particularly in the drumming). What's cool is its just two guys, one who does all the vocals, guitars, bass, etc., and the other who does the drums. They're both quite talented, too. Pyro introduced me to them a while ago and I was pretty impressed, went out and grabbed their first album (A Celebration of Guilt). I'd say it's definitely best to try the albums in chronological order, and definitely give each a couple of listens before really making a judgment. Because of the Carcassy tone you've got a lot of cool sludgy mids, and the crazy-fast playing can lead to a sound that seems a bit chaotic at first. Once you get a bit more familiar with the sound, though, it quickly becomes apparent how tight the compositions are, and there's a lot of really memorable riffing that sounds unique to the band. Which is always a good thing. This isn't generic metal. It's very inspired. You can tell to some extent with the lyrics as well, which aren't necessarily the best I've ever seen, but they're better than average for sure. So much shit out there in the world of metal wordplay.
So... yeah. That's my little Arsis in 20 seconds bit.
Been listening to UiR quite a bit today, and I fucking love it. Not sure that I like it quite as much as the other two disks, but that may be because it's trying to be a bit different. There's a little more experimentation going on with the standard songwriting. Sometimes it works well, sometimes not quite as much. Still, it's a very worthy album with some good catchy stuff. There's at least a couple of really unique pieces on there that sound just plain fantastic. I'm particularly fond of the last track, Hopeless Truth.
Anyone who was looking forward to the album, definitely snag it. It's good stuph.
And about the tours... fuckers are only touring in southern Cali. I'm sad like you wouldn't believe.
EDIT - Wait... maybe Orangevale is up north. It still isn't near me, damn it, but it would be doable...
