Oh Yay! Another boring release from Job For a Cowboy, however this time they add a little more nuances to their sound for a little bit of an enjoyable experience. I tend to wonder why this band gets as much attention as Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse. Because for one all their albums were utter crap and the music written sounds like ABC, Sesame Street-ish, by the book’s death metal. Add modern production parts and generic vocals and one has Job for a Cowboy.
Okay enough ranting, this album is not actually that bad, its still bad, but not that bad. I think it’s my taste though not brutal enough I guess, no slams or breakdowns, eh total bummer. Anyways the change in sound comes in the form of some pretty gnarly high register vocals from Davy, and the huge addition of melody to most of the songs.
Progressive technical solos fluster in and out during songs like “Black Charge,” “Fearmonger”…actually come to think of it all the songs have solos. “Black Charge” and “Fearmonger” are my two top picks off the album and definitely a recommended download if can’t buy the whole disc. “Black Charge” brings a total blackened war based sound with a ridiculous evil solo half way through. The blackened melodies add a dark touch over technical thrash-y death metal riffs. “Fearmonger” is all about breakneck speed and shredding all over the place until a sick doom-y end brings the song to a close. The growls here fucking slay, too bad I’m not feelin’ the other tracks. Mr. Davy seriously shines on this piece.
The rest of the album is generic and most of the album goes by in a blur, not a good blur to where I’ll jam it again to figure out what I heard. More like a messy blur, riffs move along swiftly but they never lay down a groove and the instrumentation just binds up and struggles to breath. Things just seem out of hand and not in a good way.
Production values are what you expect from a modern death metal band; clean and crystal clear. Everything is audible nothing sounds rough nor does it affect the music much. The record moves fast, the mix is incredible yet the album still suffers from tedious songs and boring song structures.
This is death metal for people who think that Bullet For My Valentine are death metal. It was an enjoyable experience first time through to hear their changes to the sound, but the band still sounds boring. The Doom ep that there fan base worships is straight crap as well. I say forget this album, but listen if you must, if want something good listen to the new Hour Of Penance or perhaps Begging For Incest. Too bad but I knew what was expected, another long drawn out death metal release. On a side note: They are also very boring live.
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Find more articles with 2012, Death Metal, Jesse Wolf, Job For A Cowboy, Metal Blade Records, Review
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“This is death metal for people who think that Bullet For My Valentine are death metal”
It is? Shit. I’d better pull out my totally sweet BFMV varsity-jacket and represent then. And here was me thinking it was a deth metal album by a band who play death metal.
The recommendation of Hour Of Penance is spot on though, as there were a hell of a lot of similarities between the two groups around the ‘Ruination’/’The Vile Conception’ era.
on Apr 16th, 2012 at 07:28Jesse, thank you for your wonderful insite on JFCB, you did a wondeful job on bashing the band and now that I’ve bought the albulm I might as well put a gun to my mouth and blow my brains out. I mean I love me some Death Metal (Hate Eternal, Lay Down Rotten, Hail of Bullets) and sometimes like to dab a time or two in some Tech Death, and I really enjoyed this albulm, but you review was totaly wrong and I’m sorry that you dont wanna feel like a “fan boy” and write a bias review, well carry on, Ima bout to go load my gun!
on Apr 16th, 2012 at 11:58Your reviews make my eyes bleed.
on Apr 16th, 2012 at 14:12Wow what an asshole
on Apr 16th, 2012 at 15:56this band suxxxx. so does this review.
on Apr 16th, 2012 at 22:12People should stop talking about this band. Lots of shit bands get lots of attention. Big deal.
on Apr 17th, 2012 at 20:27Hey man, they don’t fit my tastes too well either, but you have got to admit that they have improved enormously since their ‘Doom’ (read: breakdown breakdown gauge your ears!) days. I saw them just last month playing on Metal Alliance tour, and compared to the first two times I saw them, I actually thought they were decent this time around. It’s bland and certainly nothing cutting edge for a ‘modern’ death metal scene I find too polished to begin with, but they deserve credit at least for developing their sound.
Slainte,
on Apr 17th, 2012 at 21:29Conor
I can’t stand their new raspy vocal style, and thought their early stuff was way better. These guys keep taking massive leaps backwards… good review brother.
on Apr 19th, 2012 at 23:44I like this album quite a bit. “Children of Deceit” and “Nourishment Through Bloodshed” are killer tapes. Also, regardless of the opinions expressed, this is a really, really poorly done review. It’s like you didn’t even listen to it and said “hey nobody likes JFAC anymore, right? this album must be shit!! ha ha!”
on May 5th, 2012 at 07:31