Unearth Confidently March On

10/30/08 5:49pm

by Keith Carman (CHARTattack)

Unearth drummer Derek Kerswill is a ball of excitement, and he has a right to be.

Not only is he finally a full-fledged member of the Winthrop, Mass. metalcore quintet after spending time in the past as an occasional collaborator and fill-in for previous skinsman Mike Justian, but he's just applied his trade to the band's fourth album, The March. Oozing energy, one almost fears he'll begin to froth at the mouth when he speaks.

"These are fresh times for Unearth. It's almost a renewal. Phase III or version 3.0 of Unearth," Kerswill says. "There's this synergy from the record being done and everyone being happy that's bled over into the live shows. It just feels like such a full unit now, where you can see and hear separation in a lot of other bands."

Kerswill says his enthusiasm was a prime factor in establishing that unity, and was itself stoked by the opportunity to work closely on the album with main writer/guitarist Buz McGrath (the band are completed by vocalist Trevor Phipps, guitarist Ken Susi and bassist John Maggard).

The theme behind this 11-track opus is frustration at the cause of modern day woes. Not content to simply dole out the upset, though, Kerswill stresses the band were adamant in trying to find optimistic solutions, a glimmer of hope in otherwise dark times.

"The March is affected — well, inspired by — the shit that our generation has to go through because of everything the Baby Boomers fucked up.

"We're dealing with the repercussions of their actions, but instead of just griping about what's going on, we really wanted to inject something positive into the mix. We're looking at the evils of what's been left for us, but we've put in some hope at the same time."

But Kerswill notes that despite reinvigorating Unearth, he doesn't believe his heavy hand in the creation of The March has changed the band all that much. Conversely, he humbly recognizes how the only internal struggle now is coming up with a set list everyone can appreciate.

"Unearth is an extremely integral underground band, but we wanted this to be more refined, focused, melodic and heartfelt. The March isn't a drastic shift from the last three albums musically, but there's definitely a boost overall.

"We can tell because now that it's done, we just have to get out and preach the word, but we're struggling with what to cut out of a set list. We only play four songs from the last record because that's all we wanted to do, and we've even cut one of those. We feel good about playing 75 per cent of this new album, though. That's a really good sign."