Back in the 80’s Los Angeles was ruled by dudes with big hair and spandex that wrote songs about sex, drugs and cherry pie. Unlucky Theta is looking to help people forget about that period of time with their new self-titled six song EP.
These Southern California based musicians are an anomaly in the world of rock and metal. To try and define this band’s sound is definitely not an easy task. I bet a writer for Rolling Stone would suffer a panic attack because they could not process how atypical Unlucky Theta compares to the garbage Rolling Stone tries to pedal upon the mindless masses. I have been fortunate enough to see Unlucky Theta live, so I can appreciate this band’s bold vision to step outside the mundane box that leads so many bands down a road of repetitive generic bullshit.
There is a bit of sludge, punk, thrash, death and even folk incorporated into this band’s dynamic style of songwriting. The first song off of the EP, “Thrown Off Olympus Mons,” is a massive sounding planet colliding piece of music. Right away bassist/vocalist Daniel Goodman and guitarist Nick Kontje unleash a storm of juggernaut sized riffs while drummer Ariel Bleiberg deals out a Stone Cold Steve Austin like ass whooping from behind the kit. Once you get to the middle section of the song where Daniel starts shouting out bellicose sounding lyrics, you feel as though you are being crushed by a mountain of pure bone crushing brutality. On the second track, “Parthian Shot,” the band begins with more of a classic punk approach and then turns up the insanity by conjuring up a flurry of catchy sounding rebellious riffs.
Track number three, “Venus,” hits hard and leaves a wake of destruction in its smoldering path as the band keeps pushing the pedal down in terms of raw artistic expression. Also, the band sort of changes course about midway through the song thus allowing Daniel to offer up a groovy sounding bass composition. After all this ravenous rock and metal music you would not expect Unlucky Theta to drastically change course, but they decide to take a departure and add a really pleasant sounding acoustic song with Ariel taking over on vocals. The acoustic arrangement is extremely heavenly sounding and the entire production is simply flawless in my opinion. Overall, the song is an exceptional piece of music that demonstrates the diverse musical backgrounds of these musicians.
The album ends with the song, “The Monolith Falls,” and I truly believe that this was the perfect choice for the album’s last song. In the beginning of the song the band focuses on this trippy sludge like riff that evolves into a space odyssey of mind bending sounds. I thought the unconventional arrangements created such a unique atmosphere filled with hypnotic splendor and mesmerizing rhythms.
Unlucky Theta’s debut EP is a tremendous release from start to finish and contains a plethora of musical creativity. Now, there are bands who claim to be musically diverse and end up sounding like Yoko Ono on PCP, which is definitely not the case with Unlucky Theta. These guys are extremely talented musicians who really put thought into their recordings, so I highly recommend people check this EP out. Unlike those bands who are not extremely talented musicians and dress like ugly drag queens, Unlucky Theta is a band that is worth your time!
Unlucky Theta bandcamp:
https://unluckytheta.bandcamp.com/
Unlucky Theta Facebook Page:
Mason really liked listening to their music. He's pretty honest about what he thinks too when it comes to music, and he doesn't hold back.
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