Our Days of Eulogy

Album Review

When Boston metalcore favorites Unearth made the jump to Metal Blade, they didn't forget the record label that gave them their start, Eulogy — or at least Eulogy didn't forget them. Who knows? Fact is, the result was 2005's Our Days of Eulogy, a fare-thee-well release compiling 13 live and out of print recordings that the band's ever-growing legion of fans will likely snap up with relish. First up are five explosive live performances — including fan favorites such as "Fuel the Fire," "Only the People," and "One Step Away" — which together formed the backbone of the band's acclaimed first album, and are curiously introduced here (with simultaneous doses of supreme irony and frank reverence) by Mötley Crüe's "In the Beginning." Next, there are four cuts originally comprising 2002's rather brilliant Endless EP, which, as well as confirming that the inspirational winning streak displayed on Unearth's first album was no fluke, proved that neither was their commitment to making heavy metal an integral part of their songwriting henceforth. Finally, there come the four tracks originally released as the band's, until now, very rare Above the Fall of Man EP, where formative songs like "Shattered by the Sun" and "Convictions" reveal a distinctly raw side and may therefore surprise fans who arrived in later years. [Not ones to miss a great promotional opportunity, Eulogy took advantage of their final Unearth release to include a bonus disc sampling their most promising acts, including Evergreen Terrace, On Broken Wings, and Black My Heart, among others.]