UNPROCESSED
Modern progressive metal quartet find their winning formula.
UNPROCESSED RELEASED THEIR fourth album, Gold, over the summer and the resulting surge in popularity over their modern blend of progressive metal has filled their calendars to the brim. Prog asks where Unprocessed frontman Manuel Gardner Fernandes is calling from today, to which he responds, “Uh, I don’t know actually!” He laughs before clarifying, “Someone just said we played Toronto last night, so somewhere near there, I guess.”
Their recent North American tour dates showcased how the quartet’s sound has evolved since their inception in 2014. Originally formed from the remnants of Fernandes’ and fellow Unprocessed bandmate Christoph Schultz’s death metal band These Days Remain, as well as current members David Levy and Leon Pfeifer’s hardcore band Infecting Silence, the current-day sound of Unprocessed is far removed from its extreme roots. Staying true to the literal definition of Unprocessed, this material should be raw and unpolished but the German group deliver a refined, complex sound and fans of multiple genres will find something to grab them.
Citing original inspirations such as Metallica, Pantera and his dad’s 80s thrash group, Fernandes says that forming a band was always his “plan A” but the move towards modern progressive music has been a long road. “We always loved progressive music,” he says with a smile. “We started in 2014, writing prog metal and we released In Concretion, which was about 80 minutes long,” he laughs, before adding, “it was quite a long record!”
The djent EP, Perception, followed in 2016, with their second and third albums – Covenant and Artificial Void –released in 2018 and 2019 respectively.“We’ve always had this prog element,” he confirms, “but we wanted to create something new.” Gold embraces melodic and poppier elements that Unprocessed hadn’t explored before.“We wanted to do more vocal things,” he says, before adding, “We wanted to change more things, we wanted to give the record a more personal touch.
“If you like music in general, are interested in music and want to explore and listen carefully to something really special, you’ll like Gold,” Fernandes explains. He certainly has a point. The album is an easy listen on the first play but repeat plays reveal much finesse and a truly beautiful take on modern progressive metal, with all the best elements of pop thrown in to accentuate the stunning songwriting.
In the creation of their latest record, Unprocessed have taken raw talent and combined it with a futuristic approach to progressive music, and with videos racking up views in the millions on YouTube, their refreshing style is certainly making an impact.
Unprocessed have been releasing music constantly since 2014, so when quizzed on the next moves for the band, Fernandes says, “Actually, it’s the first time that I didn’t write any material for future releases, so anything could happen.” With Gold now available to stream and buy, we softly suggest a break to recharge, to which he laughs once more and repeats,“Anything could happen.”
“WE ALWAYS HAD THIS PROG ELEMENT, BUT WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW.”