Blood lust

Anger. Rage. New York’s Unsane knows these words well. After nearly 20 years of pummeling listeners with their caustic and pounding rhythms, they’ve honed their audio murder to a wicked point. And it hurts so good.

Unsane started in the putrid but fertile waters of the late ’80s New York noise-rock scene. Bands like Helmet, Swans and Sonic Youth were their peers, but where other bands broke up, dropped out or just plain blew it, Unsane kept at it. Years later, their sound hasn’t changed much, but then, why fix what isn’t broken?

Songs generally kick in with a solid distorted bass-groove, which through the band’s history has remained the cornerstone of their sonic maxim. Guitarist/vocalist Chris Spencer then adds his freewheeling but direct guitar maneuverings and visceral screaming over the top. The totality of sound is impressive, and no band, despite many imitators, has yet to reach Unsane’s pinnacle.

The career of Unsane has, like any band of long duration, seen its up and downs. After starting out on indie labels and releasing records on Matador Records, the band signed to Atlantic Records in 1993.

It was a relationship not meant to last. Even in the post-Nirvana major-label signing free-for-all, Unsane’s music was too ugly for mass consumption.

Then, on the record immediately following the departure from major-label stomping grounds, Unsane recorded their most “accessible” album. Scattered, Smothered and Covered was maybe just a little bit easier to digest. It scored the band their first hit video, “Scrape,” featuring skateboarders in harrowing brushes with death.

In 2007, Unsane has released a new album. Visqueen is their first for Ipecac Records, former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton’s label.

The match couldn’t be better. Visqueen finds Unsane again doing what they do best. Pounding songs, angry words and that distinctive groove all point to the same thing: yeah, this is an Unsane record and yeah, it fucking rules.

Like any band with experience, Unsane absolutely brings it in the live setting. It’s loud and crushing. Un-fuck-with-able is probably a better way to describe the band.

Playing before Unsane are avant-metallers Mouth of the Architect. The band is very much in the vein of current metal heroes Isis: long songs, with lush melodic passages leading into crushing de-tuned dirges form the sonic weight of their sound. And while this formal archetype has been explored to death in recent years, MOTA still has its own unique spin on it.

Unsane

With Mouth of the Architect and 400 Blows

June 3 at Satyricon

$12