"Memories" by UnSun from The End Of Life

If you've followed this blog, you probably read my review of "The Last Tears" by UnSun, which mentioned that I've immediately bought two albums of UnSun's after hearing one song from the album. "The Last Tears" was that song from the second album. "Memories" was the winner from the first album.

"Memories" reminds me of "Eva" by Nightwish. (Excuse me while I dodge rotten tomatoes from Nightwish fans for daring the comparison.) That's not to say they sound alike—"Memories" emphasizes the piano, while "Eva" is orchestral.

But "Memories" is a ballad that adds gentle electric guitar in the song's bridge. Like "Eva". Thus the comparison. It could also be compared to Evanescence's "My Immortal" at a faster tempo. (Mind those rotten apples, please. I'm a mite afraid of worms due to a poor reading choice as a child.) It's pretty and well-blended, though not astounding.

The singer, Annelyse "Aya" Stefanowicz, isn't a fantastic, but she isn't bad. Her consistent accent is hard to understand in a lot of cases, and it's worsened by the song evidently having some lines that are victims of translation. ("I have the spell on the merciless time"?)

Overall, the song is evidently about someone who's trying to escape memories, "never looking back", but who's still haunted by those memories at night. The song narrator pleads with her partner to "save me please from my fears".

I'm reminded of that saying, "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you." My first schoolteacher harassed me with that one, as a kid. I suspect a bully invented it. Words do hurt, even if you know your ex was a dog who belittled you constantly for no reason, or Momma was a drunk who treated everyone like dirt. (Just to come up with some extreme examples of hurting words; I've fortunately not experienced either.)

The song's narrator knows she can't stay in the memories, but they haunt her anyway. "The pain and grief" doesn't seem to be lessening with time—and, frankly, it doesn't always.

I think that's much of what drew me to this song. The song narrator is depressed and fighting it. Hurrah for her!

Overall, worth a listen if you like ballads with that touch of electric guitar. If you can't stand the electric guitar (or accented singers), avoid.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 7/10

Check out "Memories" on Amazon!

"The Last Tears" by UnSun from Clinic For Dolls

Every so often, you might hear a song that immediately grabs your attention and makes you go online and buy that song or album. If you're anything like me, you'll be wondering what it is, exactly, that makes it so appealing to you—especially if the song contains some things that actually bother you.

UnSun isn't astoundingly unique or skilled to the point that metal haters will make an exception for them, but it's twice now that I had to buy an album of theirs right after hearing one song. They only have two albums so far. "The Last Tears" was one song that so caught my attention on the second album (because, to be fair, two songs got my attention on this one).

First off, the singer, Annelyse "Aya" Stefanowicz, does have a heavy accent. It's consistent throughout the song, so I don't find it as annoying as, for example, the slaughtering of the word fortune in "April Rain" by Delain. It does make it difficult to understand Aya until you get used to it.

The lyrics are a tribute to someone who's "not scared of the places where [her] heart hurts the most". The song's narrator has been ripped to shreds emotionally, but she's fighting through it. She isn't afraid of that pain. She cries, doesn't demand answers for why it's happened to her, and the dreams make it easier "to survive the night" as she recovers.

And she does get better.

That makes it a remarkably encouraging song, as far as ones lamenting nasty break-ups go. (Which makes me think of another one I need to review. Hm. Maybe for Monday.) The one questionable element comes in "I never ask why / kind God refuses to hear my requests"—um, just because a request hasn't been granted doesn't mean that God didn't hear it. "No," is an answer, too. So is "Not yet."

Now, in overall sound, UnSun resembles Delain, or even the modern Nightwish. Aya's pop-style voice resembles Anette Olzon (Nighwish's current singer).

"The Last Tears" has lovely smooth piano throughout. The song overall has a wet (echoing) sound, which is a bit strange with the piano, but then about midway through, the song adds repetitive things that I'm pretty sure are electronic and not instrumental. Now, I happen to like electronica, and the end result for this song actually does work, but I think the song would actually sound better without it.

Overall, if you like rock ballads and don't mind singer accents, it's worth a listen. Otherwise, I'm not sure why I wanted to buy this album immediately after hearing this song. That the song's narrator doesn't fear heartbreak or the memories that come with it, I think.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 6/10