Album Review: Unreal Unearth: Unending – Hozier
1. Nobody’s Soldier
Quick Take: HOLY FUCKING BANG OUT THE BAG. FUCK YEA. Vocals, power, and instrumentals — this is gas.
Score: 9/10
2. July
Quick Take: Holy lyricism. I fucked with it hard.
Score: 8/10
3. That You Are
Quick Take: I hate the country vibes, but the instrumentals are gas. Lyricism again is fire. LOVE THE LAYERING. BEDOUINE???
Their voices melt together like butter.
Score: 7/10
4. Swan Upon Leda
Quick Take: I love the instrumentals, but this song just isn’t for me. Calming and lyrically real though.
Score: 8/10
5. Hymn to Virgil
Quick Take: Uhhhh, idk about these vibes. Sounds like Take Me to Church but less impactful. Cringe lowkey.
Score: 5/10
6. Too Sweet
Quick Take: I fucking hate this song. It’s good but cringe and rinky-dinky. Personally 1/10, realistically 6/10.
Score: 6/10
7. Wildflow and Barley
Quick Take: Love the melding of vocals. Lyricism is gas. I love this song.
Score: 9/10
8. Empire Now
Quick Take: Cringe-ass song. Big claps and snaps. Millennial vibes all over.
Score: 4/10
9. Fare Well
Quick Take: Another millennial-ass song. Love the instrumental but can’t fw it.
Score: 6/10
10. Through Me
Quick Take: Gas instrumental and good lyricism. Still gives that millennial soul energy.
Score: 6/10
11. De Selby (Part 1)
Quick Take: Gas instrumental but doesn’t evoke anything in me.
Score: 5/10
12. De Selby (Part 2)
Quick Take: Pretty solid track overall. Nothing wild, but good listen.
Score: 7/10
13. First Time
Quick Take: I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG. I LOVE THE CHORUS. Pure emotion and energy.
Score: 9/10
14. Francesca
Quick Take: Goated love song. Production and lyrics are great, but the editing just doesn’t sit right with me.
Score: 8/10
15. I, Carrion (Icarian)
Quick Take: Feels very acapella at the start. Love the guitar. Eat Your Young section falls a bit flat though.
Score: 5/10
16. Damage Gets Done
Quick Take: BRANDI’S VOCALS ARE GAS. Love her adlibs.
Score: 8/10
17. Who We Are
Quick Take: Nothing special to my ears.
Score: 6/10
18. Son of Nyx
Quick Take: INSANE INSTRUMENTALS. I loved it.
Score: 8/10
19. All Things End
Quick Take: Feels like an end-credits movie song. Good energy.
Score: 7/10
20. To Someone From a Warm Climate
Quick Take: AMAZING VOCALS. Emotional, intimate, and raw. Talks about sexuality and relationships with depth, not vulgarity.
Didn’t love the repeated bars in the second half, but still fire.
Score: 9/10
21. Butchered Tongue
Quick Take: Too much story, not enough song. Feels more like a tale than music.
Score: 5/10
22. Anything But
Quick Take: Love the instrumentals, but not feeling the vocals. Another millennial-ass song.
Score: 5/10
23. Abstract (Psychopomp)
Quick Take: Straight hootin’ n hollerin’. Love the vocals, but kinda empty overall.
Score: 6/10
24. Unknown / Nth
Quick Take: More hootin’ n hollerin’. Lyrics are cool, but he doesn’t need to act like Johnny Bravo.
Score: 5/10
25. First Light
Quick Take: Sounds like running through the rain to catch a romance at the airport. Emotional closer.
Score: 7/10
FINAL RATING: 6.7/10
Personally, I didn’t LOVE the album, but I did LOVE some of the songs. It was a long and hard listen cause at some points it just felt like millennial slop, but when I got past those moments it was truly an enjoyable listen. Also I know his whole gimmick is to hoot and holler, but god damn bruh can he chillout and js sing normally? He has an amazing voice and he just wastes it by shouting and yelling. One thing I will commend Hozier on doing is his lyricism. Hozier has always had an amazing way with words and his team being able to help him have always been major supports to his popularity. On Top of that I loved the instrumentals across the board. No matter how much I did not like the lyrics, the instrumentals were always shining through to help their rating in my eyes. Regardless though, I barely enjoyed the album, but when I did enjoy it I was singing along and looking into the meaning of the lyrics.