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UnSun was a Polish
gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of 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 styles of heavy met ...
band formed in 2006 by ex-guitarist Maurycy "Mauser" Stefanowicz of
death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
band Vader. Their debut album, entitled ''The End of Life'', was released in September 2008 by
Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...
. Their second album ''Clinic for Dolls'' was released in 2010 via
Mystic Production Mystic Production is one of the largest Polish independent record labels. It was founded by Barbara Mikuła in 1995 in Skała near Cracow. The company was initially releasing and distributing heavy metal music, including early albums by artists ...
. Despite plans to enter the studio in 2015 to record the follow up to ''Clinic for Dolls'', vocalist Anna "Aya" Stefanowicz's health conditions got worse and prevented her from recording vocal lines. Having seen no improvement, Unsun was forced to disband in February 2016.


History

UnSun was founded by ex- Vader guitarist Mauser and his wife, lead vocalist Anna "Aya" Stefanowicz. Originally named Unseen, they later changed their name to UnSun to reflect their blending of death metal influences and melodic vocals. Mauser and Aya added additional musicians to complete the group. In 2007, the group was signed with Mystic Production. The band's style has been compared to
Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two ...
,
Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...
,
Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut s ...
,
Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...
, and The Gathering.


''The End of Life'' (2008)

In early 2008, Anna and Maurycy Stefanowicz began writing their first album, ''The End of Life'', which was recorded at Studio-X in 2008. It was released through
Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...
on 19 September 2008. The album features gothic metal and rock with a "homogenous mix" of hard guitar sound and tender melodies.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's reviewer noted that the album was far from Vader's death metal and oriented more towards commercial gothic metal. The same year, UnSun performed the Black Sun Tour in Poland with
Votum In ancient Roman religion, a ''votum'', plural ''vota'', is a vow or promise made to a deity. The word comes from the past participle of the Latin verb ''voveo, vovere'', "vow, promise". As the result of this verbal action, a ''votum'' is also th ...
and Black River.


''Clinic for Dolls'' (2010)

The band's record label,
Mystic Production Mystic Production is one of the largest Polish independent record labels. It was founded by Barbara Mikuła in 1995 in Skała near Cracow. The company was initially releasing and distributing heavy metal music, including early albums by artists ...
, announced in a press statement on 24 June 2010 that UnSun begun recording its second album ''Clinic for Dolls'', which was scheduled for release on 11 October 2010. According to a press release, the vocal tracks were recorded at Studio X in Olsztyn and all the instruments were laid down at Hertz Studio (
Behemoth Behemoth (; he, בְּהֵמוֹת, ''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; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and ...
, Vader,
Decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...
) in Bialystok. The cover artwork was created by Hi-Res Studio, which also handled the band's latest photo session. The album was rated as "common gothic metal" by ''Sonic Seducer'' while AllMusic's reviewer found elements of
J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
. ''Metal Hammer'' Germany wrote also that the album was not as gothic and theatrical as others of its kind.
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...
wrote that while the album did not focus as much on symphonic and orchestral parts as other gothic music, it still had "enough unique characteristics". In October 2010, UnSun supported Tristania on the "Rubicon Tour" in Europe. Both Filip Halucha and "Vaaver" Dramowicz left the band in 2010.


Third album (2011–2015)

On 1 April 2014 Anna Stefanowicz posted on Unsun's Facebook page with this direct quote: "Hey guys! Long time no news, so here you go! My vocal cords and condition causing problems with them is really improving, so I can finally sing not only hum. In the meantime, we're still continuously working on the new songs so you can expect new album will be coming out soon. As soon as we finish the songs we'll go to the studio and then we'll be able to give you more accurate release date of our third album. I hope that's sound good enough? Thank you for your constant support. Love you! See you soon. Best Wishes to you all. Aya"


Breakup (2016)

On 5 February 2016, Anna Stefanowicz posted on UnSun's Facebook page announcing the breakup of the band due to how her vocal cord condition was getting worse. She wrote: "The illness I have is affecting my nervous system and there are a lot of bad things happening to my body at the moment. So now I am just dreaming about being able to walk and move and do things without pain, so forgive me for not dreaming about singing. I am currently waiting for the decision about my possible further treatment and one of the options is surgery in the neck/spine area, and I hope that, the successful surgery would resolve at least half of my problems. It was really hard to admit it but this will also free me somehow, hopefully.. Therefore, we decided to quit the band. Maurycy is still continuing with his writing and music making. He is currently working on his new project/band."


Band members

;Current *Anna "Aya" Stefanowicz (Napiórkowska) – vocals (2006–2016) * Maurycy "Mauser" Stefanowicz – guitar (2006–2016) *Patryk "Patrick" Malinowski – bass guitar (2010–2016) *Wojtek "Gonzo" Blaszkowski – drums (2010–2016) ; Former * Filip "Heinrich" Halucha – bass guitar (2006–2010) *Wawrzyniec "Vaaver" Dramowicz – drums (2006–2010) Timeline


Discography


Studio albums


Music videos


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unsun Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 2006 establishments in Poland 2016 disestablishments in Poland Polish gothic metal musical groups Century Media Records artists Musical quartets Mystic Production artists