Jesaiah Album Review
Jesaiah – Et Tu, Hope
Words by Ian Dickinson
Sweden, home of meatballs, IKEA, Vikings and ferocious metal. From this scene Jesaiah have arisen. The Stockholm quintets debut full length, Et Tu, Hope, is a respectable and at times intriguing album but sadly it fails to leave a lasting impression.
The album begins with strength and conviction in the form of Fill Your Hands With Chaos. The song opens with a spoken word message and in this sense is reminiscent of the Refused’s mixture of screaming and spoken vocals. To be honest I am not entirely sure what their message is (this statement applies to pretty much all the tracks) but when Max Sjoblom (Vocals) is telling you to “fill your hands with chaos,” I am guessing it is some good old fashion anarchism. Screaming vocals take over the track as they do for the entire album. It is clear from the get go that Sjoblom has a vast arsenal of vocal weapons to rain down on the listener, which is always a bonus as constant screaming in one singular style without reprise bores the hell out of me. This Night: We Share Every Breath is powered by big scary sorrowful riffs and the vocals are clearer but more frantic and intimidating. The base drops, provided by Martin Peterson (Bass) in the breakdown tempt me into car jacking a rude boys Vauxhall Nova just so I can use his subwoofer to enjoy it. Even with the stomach kicking bass slides the song fizzles out. This seems to be a motif of the entire album.
We’re Almost Dead, No Time For Rational Thinking incorporates gang vocals, which I always like, and the return of the spoken word; “10,000 years of evolution don’t you ever fucking judge me.” Repeated in an a shrill and aggressive scream is a rather formidable combination and again reminds me of the party political messages that the Refused would interject from time to time. Doom laden riffs add to an apocalyptic atmosphere but again the finish is disappointing.
By track four I have completely switched off. I listen to every album that I review a great deal, in numerous locations, times of day and every time I get to track four on this album, what ever mood I am in I realise that my mind has wonder into a land of day-to-day nonsensical nothingness where the flavour of super noodle I am having for dinner is of paramount importance.
I am always awoken from my dinner daydreams by the track Music Noir, a grungy instrumental that has a tragic beauty and at 1.44min long is a sinister interlude and a perfect intro to the best song on the album L’aime Prison Du Corps. This songs sees Jesaiah in all their punishing and brutal splendour. Vocals are varied, chaotic and psychopathic. If you are not interested in the whole album and you just want to give the band a shot check this song out. I doubt you will be disappointed. As L’aime Prison Du Corps ends it is back to the mind wandering that tends to lead me to a point where I am plotting how to capture the mouse in my room that steals my socks (this is actually a problem I am still trying to resolve) as the final tracks are repetitive and dull.
If you are a fan of Deathcore, Metalcore, Mathcore, basically any music with brutal lyrics, breakdowns and a certain schizophrenia you should give Jesaiah a listen. They seem to be slightly more intelligent and innovative than a great deal of their peers but sadly it really didn’t do much for me.
As a debut this is very good, actually I take that back. Even for a veteran outfit this is very good album but it is not great. There is nothing in particular that makes me want to return to this album. There is no point of differentiation that makes me want to listen to Jesaiah any more than the thousands of similar bands out there, apart from the bass drops which I have some bizarre fetish for but sadly this isn’t enough. I will certainly continue to watch out for Jesaiah as I believe they could be onto something brilliant in the long run.
