Job For A Cowboy - Ruination review
Band: | Job For A Cowboy |
Album: | Ruination |
Style: | Death metal |
Release date: | July 07, 2009 |
Guest review by: | wormdrink414 |
01. Unfurling A Darkened Gospel
02. Summon The Hounds
03. Constitutional Masturbation
04. Regurgitated Disinformation
05. March To Global Enslavement
06. Butchering The Enlightened
07. Lords Of Chaos
08. Psychological Immorality
09. To Detonate And Exterminate
10. Ruination
Okay. So this is Job For A Cowboy. That's right ladies and gentlemen, the Job For A Cowboy. The band that has somehow made its way onto 80 percent of the t-shirts you see in your local high schools. The Job For A Cowboy that is mocked by your metalhead buddies and seemingly worshiped by those numerous metal fans who bust out Ke$ha in their SUVs. About a month ago I made a dangerous leap of logic and thought, "Well, wait. Maybe these guys are popular for good reason. I should at least give them a shot." The Slayer fan in me screamed, "No. No, George. Of course they're fucking not. Don't you listen to them, man. Don't you listen to them." But since I have been impressed by The Black Dahlia Murder in the past, I told my inner-elitist to ease up and borrowed my little brother's copy of Ruination. And, luck will have it, I was impressed. Not necessarily by the album's originality or the band's skill, but by JFAC's tolerable mediocrity.
The first thing one will notice is that JFAC is in the process of feeling their way through genres, trying to find a suitable nest-building site in the cold, vicious world of metal. This is, undoubtedly, a promising sign. Rather than playing it safe and sticking with the mundane Deathcore formula of their first album, Ruination vaunts quite a range of styles. There's solid, Morbid Angel-influenced Death metal, a hint of At The Gates, and just a touch of the old JFAC brand of Deathcore. One should be pleased to hear that breakdowns are used only sparingly; JFAC has clearly begun to emphasize technicality over those dreaded, one-note "dun-dundundundun's." The lead vocalist does a meh job overall, occasionally roaring out respectable death-growls. The drumming is the most mediocre part of the album; sporadically blasting skillfully, but, more frequently than not, acting as an unelaborate metronome.
There are a few real stinker songs here. That has to be stressed. Why they bothered recording the n00btastic "Lords of Chaos" when clearly a move toward technicality has been made, goes beyond the scope of my imagination. But the few douche-bag riffs that the album boasts are out-shined by the mediocre death metal ones. That's got to be worth something.
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 6 |
Songwriting: | 6 |
Originality: | 6 |
Production: | 9 |
Written by wormdrink414 | 18.02.2011
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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