Not long after the release of 2001's "Healing", Unloco found themselves in quite a precarious position with a lack of sales, lack of touring support and a lack of band members all weighing down on them. Under such circumstances its no surprise that the group somewhat fell off the face of the earth for a bit, but it appears as though they've now gotten the pieces back together once as they return with "Becoming I", an album which in the currently unstable music industry climate, could very well make or break their career.

As such, with the stakes being so high, one would expect an emotional masterpiece with the band pouring out their soul and slugging it out like their very life depended on it. Unfortunately "Becoming I" is not an album of this caliber and instead finds itself trapped in middle of the road modern day melodic metal. Somewhere in-between the likes of Korn, TRUSTcompany and Staind lies the amalgamation of styles the band have settled upon here and while it does have its moments, it has still been done far too many times before.

For all their striking harmonies and (occasional) aggressive excursions, the band still stick to the rails of predictable song-writing and bland choruses with little sense of alarm or urgency ever arising. This montony makes it hard to pay attention for more than a few tracks and finds the album eventually washing itself out in a wave of self complacency and been there done that musicianship. It's truly a shame to see the effort go this way when knowing what's riding on it, but it feels more like a growth period for the band as they adjusted to new members and looked for an identity, rather than a full fledged album. With this being the case, it's really hard to imagine this watered down approach and lack of diversity landing the band a radio/video hit, let alone winning them over tons of new fans in this day and age and while there is a shimmer of hope, the quality of the material included here leaves it dim at best.