UNTO OTHERS - Never, Neverland (Review)

Written by: Blackie Skulless

It’s been a long time since I’ve been so conflicted on how I feel about an album, but after like five listens, I think I’ve got it down, so strap yourselves in. Unto Others are a band I’ve loved since they first broke ground in 2019 under the name “Idle Hands”. Mana was like a one-in-a-million shot of combining traditional metal with goth rock, and it worked well. Strength hinted at a heavier direction for a few songs, being a little awkward at times but overall a great release. And then we get to the latest, Never, Neverland, making me think it’s going to expand on the heavier sound. It kinda does, but it also doesn’t. But also, it tries punk, upbeat vibes, and…. black metal?

It’s as weird as it sounds, and as much as I hate to break an album down by track, there’s absolutely no consistency to this outside of the fact that it runs with the melancholic vibes coated with the deep, sonorous vocals. Otherwise, this is a game of take what you like and leave the rest. Right in the opening, “Butterfly” lays a convincing ground of running towards the softer, gothic direction with the occasional heavier lick worked in nicely; I actually very much enjoy this one. Then “Momma Likes The Door Closed” shifts entirely and works like a metal oriented punk rocker that even includes blast beats. Seriously, it’s as if you’ve started listening to another album, before “Angel Of The Night” brings you right back to where you started, finding strength in a soft chorus.

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You’ll find this kind of inconsistency everywhere, yet “Sunshine” will throw a real curveball, as it casts the soft momentum under a far more hopeful and warm spell, contradicting all of the other vibes on the album. I’d probably say this is my favorite tune, but again, it hardly fits. I suppose it fared decently next to “Suicide Today,” since the lyrics on that deal in why you should avoid suicide, except they’re pretty awkwardly written. It’s a shame, because the melody on that is quite pretty. Others like “Cold World” meander a bit too much, and songs like “When The Kids Get Caught” feel far too repetitive and flat. By the end of the record, it becomes tough to distinguish some of them from another; in other words, it’s too damn long.
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​But wait, there’s more! If blast beats in “Momma Likes The Door Closed” wasn’t weird enough, “Flatline” is an entire blackened-ish punk/metal tune with more angst than the band has ever had. It’s not even that bad of a tune, but talk about being out of place, with awkward execution. Also, there’s no way in hell you’re convincing me that “Hoops” isn’t just this band’s take on Blue Oyster Cult. The rhythm has the exact same sequence as “Don’t Fear The Reaper,” with the cowbell and all. I can’t stress enough that some of these songs are good, like some of the ones I mentioned earlier, or the steady flow of “Fame” being objectively stellar. Albums that can balance opposing ideas well tend to hold some of the best music, but man, the foundation on this is just non-existent.

Never, Neverland has to be one of the most frustrating albums I’ve heard in a long time. The musicianship itself is very fun. There are a couple of songs I love, parts of other songs I enjoy, and very little of it is straight up unpleasant, but this really does not land as an album. If Unto Others either went full on heavy-goth like they did with “Heroin” on the previous record, or went completely sad-goth without the extra fluff, they could probably make something pretty cool again. Unfortunately, this felt like a conglomeration of many unfinished ideas stuck together, without so much as any fat trimming. Fifty minutes of this wouldn’t be needed even if it did have direction. I guess at least I do have a soft spot for the inclusion of a “Pet Sematary” cover as a bonus track at the back?

Unto Others - Never, Neverland was released Sept. 20th via Century Media Records.Find it here!

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Unto Others can be found:
Official Website