Band:	Jesu
Album:	Silver
Style:	Drone, Shoegaze
Release date:	April 11, 2006
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Silver
02. Star
03. Wolves
04. Dead Eyes

Even though he's been touring extensively, re-releasing old Final stuff and getting involved in a myriad of other projects, the ever-prolific Justin Broadrick still found the time to record the brand new EP of his current main band - Jesu. To many, Heartache is significantly superior to the self-titled debut LP that followed, so a new Jesu EP is not something that should be ignored. Unfortunately, Silver does not reach the quality of the two afore-mentioned releases. Instead, it shows a new side of the band and lets us hope that the upcoming new Jesu LP will be yet another groundbreaking album that we will remember for years to come.

Silver is in fact a rather significant departure from the minimalist and monolithic melancholy that Jesu has become known for. Electronics and the drum machine make a comeback; however, this does not make Jesu sound like Godflesh. Instead, to my great surprise, Justin is venturing into somewhat poppy territory with his music. We are enveloped into an altogether lush and warm atmosphere and although the trademark guitar grind is still naturally left intact, it now makes more space for pretty melodies and harmonies produced by the synths and Justin's echoing voice. "Star" is by far the most representative of this new trend in Jesu's sound and I swear, were it to be a few minutes shorter and feature a less oppressive industrial beat, it would surely be very radio-friendly material. The title track is similarly easy on the ears; however, it is a bit too monotonous and overplays its main motif too frequently. The last two tracks on the EP are slightly more oppressive and reminiscent of 'old' Jesu; however, they still share the same polished production of the entire EP. "Dead Eyes" is another big surprise here, since in it the electronica clearly takes the forefront and leads the piece into areas previously unexplored by Jesu or Godflesh.

Silver is actually an excellent EP; however, it still has a clear 'work in progress' vibe about it. It is a progress report of the evolution that Jesu's music is under and that will hopefully yield even more phenomenal results in the future.