Job For a Cowboy – Sun Eater
Not exactly the bree’s knees
Alright, I haven’t even gotten to the actual review yet and I’ve already made two bree breeeee jokes, so I guess that means I have to discuss JFAC’s background. The band has been around since 2003, though vocalist Jonny Davy is the only original member. They began as a straightforward deathcore band, becoming famous (and infamous) in the MySpace era with the Doom EP. While it had some catchy riffs and was certainly heavy enough, the album was divisive among metal fans for appearing to cater to 15-year-old scenester kids, as well as for Davy’s frequent usage of pig squeals in his vocal delivery.
By the time the band released Ruination in 2009, they had transformed into a respectable technical death metal outfit. 2012's Demonocracy further cemented their move in this direction, and is a pretty fantastic album that even haters of their earlier material can enjoy. With this year’s Sun Eater, the band has re-invented itself yet again as a sort of doomy, jazzy, tech death version of Intronaut. Luckily for Davy and his crew, Intronaut’s savant of a drummer, Danny Walker, agreed to play as a session musician on this release.
The band nailed a very unique and particular sound on this LP. If I had to compare it to anything, it would be a slower and more dissonant version of Beyond Creation. Guitarists Al Glassman and giant human Tony Sannicandro play finger-breakingly fast riffs and leads, even at the relatively slower tempo that prevails on most of the record. Sannicandro’s solos will have your face looking like the Nazi treasure hunter at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a treat to hear Danny Walker blasting away on some of the faster tracks, particularly since Intronaut’s more recent material has been pretty slow and erred on the progressive rather than the metal side of things. For all the jokes about his pig squeals, Davy has one of the most recognizable and articulate growls in contemporary metal, and he does a fine job here imitating a meth’d up Cookie Monster.
Most interesting, however, is Nick Schendzielos’s bass work. Since joining in 2011, Schendzielos has added a groovy, delicious bottom end to the band’s records. Jason Suecof’s crisp mix somehow allows the bass to be heard clearly while still giving the guitars and kick drum plenty of room. With the band’s doomier, more down-tempo style on about half the tracks on Sun Eater, the listener is better able to appreciate Schendzielos’s contributions than ever before. Performance-wise, JFAC puts many of their peers, past and present, to shame.
For all these positives, though, Sun Eater falls pretty flat on its face in actually being a satisfying and memorable listen. While all the instruments seem constantly busy, there isn’t a lot going on structurally on most tracks, particularly the slower ones. The guitars in particular seem to just throw a lot of notes together – mostly triplets, chugs, and dissonant octaves – without a clear idea of where the melodies and riffs are going to lead. As soon as you feel like you’ve got a handle on what Sannicandro and Glassman are doing, they change the riff or the song proceeds into a new part. Since the bass is following the guitars’ key center or chord musically, it suffers from the same problem. The playing is incredibly impressive, but this musical OCD becomes frustrating from the first moments of the album. This isn’t a criticism of technical metal, since plenty of tech death bands, from Nile to Cryptopsy to Beyond Creation, don’t have this issue in the least. I would struggle to remember any riffs or songs from Sun Eater, but I would certainly know Phobophile or Lashed to the Slave Stick if I heard them on the radio.
You should give Sun Eater a listen. The album is a fascinating musical experiment, and the talent on display shows why so many metalheads have had to eat their words as far as JFAC’s staying power and musical abilities. But for this author, the lack of any decidedly memorable material cripples it bree-yond repair. 6.5/10.
Sun Eater comes out on November 11th on Metal Blade. Stream and buy it here.
