Taken

The final nail in the Taken coffin, this five-song EP is a bittersweet affair. With everyone jumping on the bandwagon, trading in heaviness for hooks, Taken were one of the few bands left who could effortlessly combine melodramatic moments of melody and singing with metallic hardcore’s fury and technicality. And few, if any, did it better or more passionately. Having evolved away from their nascent melodic noisecore influences (Drowningman, Converge, etc.), Taken’s sound is firmly their own, and while traces of emo, screamo and hardcore remain staples, their sound has a darker, less distinctly metal feel while retaining the melodic musical contrasts and aggression of their roots, coupled with the emotional purging of singer Ray Harkens. But unlike many who try for the synthesis of melody and brutality, there’s a purity and compelling nature to Taken’s explorations that’s found lacking in most others. Between Two Unseens is a cathartic journey full of desperation, emotional upheavals and moments of desolate soul-searching, leaving the listener spent after the EP’s 23-minute-plus playing time. When a band this good calls it a day, it’s a tragedy, but at least they’re going out on top.