Unto Others is an American

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

/ heavy metal band from

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. They formed in 2017 as Idle Hands but changed their name in 2020. The band has released three studio albums so far.

History

Idle Hands (2017–2020)

After the band Spellcaster broke up, its bassist Gabriel Franco formed a new band with the aim of creating something "unique". He then wrote the song "Blade and the Will" and formed the band Idle Hands with former Spellcaster guitarist Sebastian Silva.Wolfgang Liu Kuhn: ''Musik für Schwestern und Jungfrauen''. In: Rock Hard, June 2019, p. 50 (in German) The band name comes from the phrase "idle hands are the devil's playthings". According to Franco, this means that people who have nothing to do are more prone to negative activities such as laziness or excessive alcohol consumption. Franco originally wanted to call his new band Savage Grace, but there was already a band with this name. In June 2018, the band, joined by drummer Colin Vranizan, released the EP ''Don't Waste Your Time'', which was produced and mixed by Gabriel Franco. Franco, by now having switched to vocals and rhythm guitar, also played bass on the EP before David Kimbro joined Idle Hands as a permanent bassist for a short time. The band was signed to German record label and began recording their debut album at the end of November 2018. The recordings took place at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California. The band then toured Europe with Gaahls Wyrd and

Tribulation In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation () is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end. At , "the Great Tribulation" () is used to indicate the period spoken of by Jesus. u ...

. Idle Hands' debut album ''Mana'', produced by Gabriel Franco and Sebastian Silva, was released on May 10, 2019. Brandon Hill joined the band as a permanent bassist the same year.

Unto Others (2020–present)

In September 2020, the band changed their name to Unto Others for legal reasons. The new name is taken from the so-called

Golden Rule The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. It is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that one should reciprocate to others how one would like them to treat the person (not neces ...

, which states "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". In the case of the band, however, the name has a "little devilish twist" according to Gabiel Franco. He explained to the German ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' that mutual respect seems to exist less and less in today's society. He interprets the Golden Rule as "treat others as they would treat you".Frank Thiessies: ''Helden von übermorgen''. In:

, October 2021, p. 50 (in German) At this time, the band was already working with producer Arthur Rizk on their second studio album ''Strength'', which was released on September 24, 2021, via their new record label

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. The album contains a cover version of the song "

Hell Is for Children "Hell is for Children" is a hard rock song by American rock singer Pat Benatar. It was written by her guitarist Neil Giraldo, bass player Roger Capps and Benatar. The song is about child abuse and was recorded by Benatar in 1980 for her second ...

" by

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (née Andrzejewski; formerly and still professionally Benatar ; born January 10, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 US ''Billboa ...

and entered the

German album charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...

at number 77 and the Swiss album charts at number 99. On October 21, 2021, Unto Others followed up with the single "I Believe in Halloween". Readers of the German ''Metal Hammer'' voted Unto Others "Aufsteiger des Jahres" ("Rising Star of the Year"). In the spring of 2022, the band played a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland with support band Zetra. In the fall of 2022, they joined

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: * Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...

to open the co-headlining tour of bands

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...

and

Behemoth Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...

called The European Siege. The band released their third studio album, ''Never, Neverland'', on September 20, 2024, via

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

ranked it as the 5th best rock album of 2024.

Musical style

Wolfgang Liu Kuhn of the German magazine '' Rock Hard'' described Idle Hands' music as "a mixture of the sound of the best heavy metal band of all time (i.e.

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

) with the coolest elements of

goth rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

(i.e.

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band formed in Leeds in 1980. After achieving early underground fame, the band experienced a commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s, sustaining their success until the early 1990s, when they halted th ...

)." His colleague Boris Kaiser named bands like Grave Pleasures or In Solitude as reference bands, while Moritz Grütz of ''Metal1.info'' described Idle Hands' music as

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

and made comparisons with

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

. Frank Thiessies wrote of the album ''Strength'' that "

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal music, heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different ...

hasn't sounded this British, eighties-inspired and heroically Spanish for a long time", the latter being a reference to

Héroes del Silencio Héroes del Silencio (Spanish: ''Heroes of Silence'') (well known as Héroes or HDS) was a Spanish rock band from Zaragoza, formed by guitarist Juan Valdivia and singer Enrique Bunbury. The lineup was completed by bassist Joaquín Cardiel and dr ...

. According to Dominik Rothe of the German magazine ''Visions'', Unto Others sounds "as if

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

made a metal record". Frontman Gabriel Franco describes his texts as a mixture of fact and fiction and describes himself as a storyteller. He is fascinated by extremes such as war, drug addiction, suicide and murder.

Band members

*Gabriel Franco – vocals, rhythm guitar (2017–present), bass (2017–2018) *Sebastian Silva – lead guitar (2017–present) *Brandon Hill – bass (2019–present) *Colin Vranizan – drums (2018–present) ;Former members *David Kimbro – bass (2018)

Discography

Studio albums

*2019: ''Mana'' (Eisenwald Tonschmiede) (as Idle Hands) *2021: ''Strength'' (

) *2024: ''Never, Neverland'' (

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

)

Singles/EPs

*2018: ''Don't Waste Your Time'' (as Idle Hands) *2020: ''Don't Waste Your Time II'' (as Idle Hands) *2021: "I Believe in Halloween" *2023: ''Strength II...Deep Cuts''

References

External links

* * * {{authority control 2017 establishments in the United States Musical groups established in 2017 Musical groups from Portland, Oregon American gothic metal musical groups American gothic rock groups Heavy metal musical groups from Oregon