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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet sad boy bedroom mope rock but with super fuzzed out METAL GUITARS!!??, April 15, 2006
Wow, is this ever a surprise. The sensitive side of Jesu. Which is weird since Jesu was sort of the sensitive side of Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Final, Techno Animal, Napalm Death). Maybe sensitive is not the right word. Poppy? Yeah, that might fit too. Hot on the heels of two epic mindblowers, the self-titled full length and the Heartache ep, Silver finds Broadrick exploring the pop side of his personality. Writing proper songs, even SINGING. Weird but still cool. Just a bit... unexpected.
The two previous Jesu records took the bleak mechanical pummel of Godflesh and doused it with My Bloody Valentine guitar bliss out, and huge swaths of M83 guitar fuzz. A truly unique blend of ominous crunch and swirly shimmer. Pulsing, lengthy epic jams, sparkling, glistening and gauzy, a sort of soft focus alien krautrock. I was obviously immediately smitten.
So this half hour long 4 song ep is basically a pop record. Seriously. Hard to believe but it's true. Melodically and songwriting wise, these tracks sound like they came straight off of an early nineties Sebadoh or Superchunk record. Lilting and sort of bittersweet. Classic sounding early nineties indie rock wrapped in thick glistening swirls of fuzz guitar, that guitar being the only thing keeping it from sounding like something on Merge records. Not sure what to call it, maybe industrial indie rock, fuzzy jangle dirge, both are pretty accurate. Too bad this ISN'T a nineties college rock record, it easily would have been my instant favorite back then. Sweet sad boy bedroom mope rock but with super fuzzed out METAL GUITARS!!?? C'mon, how much would that have trumped every record you had back then?
But even now because of the unlikely mix of moody indie rock and pounding dirgey fuzz, this still sounds pretty fresh. Thick walls of fuzzy guitars, warbly warped melodies, sweet melodic jangle, some killer catchy hooks, and those sort of classic plaintive, mopey Mac / Lou sad boy vocals. Track three is the first one to get all M83, blissy and blown out and sweetly shimmery, a plodding sun dappled dirge, but the more I listen the more this sounds like a record Codeine would have made if they were still making records. Sort of sweetly depressive, but with a dark tail dragging vibe.
On first listen, I was sort of bummed out, this is SO different than the other two Jesu records, but the more I listen, the more I'm beginning to think this just might be my favorite yet. A record that is both soft and sweetly melodic, but thick and heavy and blown out is a rare beast indeed. And now that I hear the Codeine in Jesu, I'm even more sold. For my money, Codeine left a gaping hole when they called it quits, slowcore or moperock or whatever continued to move forward but never with the same intensity or emotion, until now perhaps.
The final track is the strangest. A sort of M83 / Jesus And Mary Chain style effects laden bliss out, with loads of swooshing backwards loops, shimmery stretches of light as air vaporous guitar, and even a super chunky Godfleshy break part way through. Awesome. The best industrial dirge jangle indie bliss slowcore doom pop ep ever??
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Godflesh is dead, long live Jesu , April 15, 2006
Godflesh was the perfect embodiment of industrial decay. When it came down to industrial metal, Godflesh was the best example of it.
Godflesh's sound was made up of dissonant chords and ringing notes. In later years, Justin pushed Godflesh's sound into an assorted range of different territories, even to the point of incorporating hip hop beats into his sound. And while that was all fine and dandy for the time being, it was clear that Justin was getting tired of being confined to Godflesh's sound. Godflesh's final record, Hymns, was a clear ode to their overall sound. Infusing the more rock based structures of Selfless with the chaotic dissonant sound of Street Cleaner, Hymns was a solid farewell to long time fans. After that, Godflesh was declared dead. Justin was no longer interested in keeping the project alive, which made perfect sense. As far back as Selfless, you could hear hints of Jesu's sound. With that said, Jesu is simply a fully explored realization of a side of Godflesh's sound that was kept under rigid control for a number of years.
When I first heard The Heartache EP, I honestly thought that it sounded like Justin combined Godflesh's sound with the sound of his more ethereal, ambient project Final. And although the full length was an even greater departure from his past sound, you could still hear hints of Godflesh struggling on for life within Jesu. With the Silver EP, Justin proudly declares that Godflesh is dead. Perhaps, dead isn't the word we should be using here. Godflesh has evolved into Jesu. The mechanical drumbeats and the dissonance have been replaced by a more humane sound. In many ways, Jesu pays tribute to the great shoegazer bands of the late 80's/early 90's. However, Jesu still retains its own individual identity. In the end, this is a worthy follow up to Godflesh.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
jesu-Silver EP, April 22, 2006
A review I've posted on a MySpace journalism site:
After purchasing and enjoying last year's beautiful full length debut by underground metal legend Justin K. Broadrick's newest project, jesu (intentionally spelled lower cased), I was naturally excited to see what the band's newest expression of emotion and melancholy would bring. After all, this was shaping up to be a great year for heavy music, and to kick it off with another beautiful experiment in human anguish a mere year after jesu's groundbreaking debut was a wonderful prospect for me. I pre-ordered the EP, and it finally arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. I had heard samples of Silver on jesu's webpage, but nothing quite prepared me for the four song onslaught that came from my speakers when I hit play.
Upon first listen, I noticed immediately that the songs were shorter then on the full length debut, but somehow the band packed in more instruments, feedback, and other little nuances than on the self titled LP. The album kicks off with the title track, beginning with some soft keys and then bringing in the crushing heaviness that I have come to love from this band. The keys stay constant throughout the entire song, lending a sort of poppy melody until the short bass interlude just before the four minute mark. It is also important to note that Silver is the only song on the disc that features live drums, and it shows. The dramatic cymbal crashes make the song that much more emotional, as Justin's vocals beautifully echo over the soundscape. The song closes six and a half minutes later with the haunting refrain, "Silver's just another gold," as the droning guitars and keys wash over the listener for the last thirty seconds of the song.
The next song, Star, is a uniquely up-tempo piece for a project that usually sticks to a slow burning rhythm. The programmed drums drive a surprisingly punk sounding kick-snare pattern as Justin sings some of his catchiest vocals over strummed guitar. The song is a welcome experimentation, combining a faster, almost optimistic drum beat with soaring vocals and jesu's trademark ambience in the background. A very different but exciting direction that the band will hopefully explore more in their next full length, which they happen to be working on right now.
The third song, Wolves, is my personal favorite on the disc. This track sounds the most like the older material from the self titled LP, and, seeing as I enjoyed that album immensely, it comes to no surprise that my heart skipped a few beats when the familiar heavy guitar rippled through the synthesizers and down-tempo drums. There is, however, something different even about this track. Though it sounds the most like something from jesu's full length, there is still something fresh that sets it apart from anything they have ever done. Perhaps it is the delicate yet powerfully commanding refrain of, what I believe to be "I'm not sick," that hits something inside of me, but this song is by far the most emotional of the four that are presented in this wonderful EP.
The fourth and last song, Dead Eyes, begins with a strange, morphing synthesizer in the background that gives way to a deep, droning guitar and eventually a haunting ambient melody over the entire track. The piece gives the illusion of constantly being in motion, but in reality never quite goes anywhere. Usually this would be a critique of a song, but in jesu's case the band makes it a brilliant experiment in just how far one can take ambience and still make it interesting. This track is minimalist metal at its finest. When the drums drop out four minutes into the song and give way to a truly crushing guitar riff to overtake the rest of the track, the purely instrumental song collapses under its own weight with nearly a half minute left to leave the drifting ambience to fade out into silence. A brilliant and nihilistic way to end a much lighter iteration of a band that so many fans have come to expect dreary melodies from. The darkness is still present, but there are more and rays of sunlight piercing its oppressive ceiling.
9/10
Highly recommended for listeners of all types of drone and metal, including:
Isis
Sunn 0)))
Neurosis
Cult of Luna
Old Man Gloom
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