“Deathcore, in its peak popularity, was essentially the dubstep of metal. Structured around a massive breakdown in the same way dubstep is structured around its 808 drop, the prototypical deathcore song was a kinetic experience designed to ratchet up the tension until a cathartic release blasts forth. This compositional style is extremely limiting, which is why both sub-genres will (and arguably already are) seen as flashes in the pan.” Pan’s Labyrinth.
“I had shit to do, so I showed up to see Lorna Shore and decided to head out before Fit for an Autopsy took the stage. I’d listened to Absolute Hope, Absolute Hell, when it came out a few years back, and though I definitely liked it, the album was a bit too unfocused to stick around in my rotation. I figured the band wasn’t going to play anything I really enjoyed. I fucked up.” Regret about missing an autopsy? That’s metal.
“You would figure that an album dedicated to a broken relationship would be excellent fodder for a metal band, yes? Israel’s Ferium is tackling that most touchy of subjects with their second full-length, Behind the Black Eyes. That poor, poor dude on the front cover…” Sad songs stab so much.
“Gomorrah struck like a bolt of lightning from a clear blue sky. Slated for a mid-January release date on the not-exactly-major-label Test Your Metal Records, The Haruspex got overlooked in an administrative snafu. As luck would have it, I am nothing if not diligent about my hoarding of new music. And when I popped Gomorrah’s The Haruspex on I knew that we’d missed something good.[1. On the topic of haruspices, I need to fire mine, because I didn’t know this was coming out.] I put out a general alert to the staff, trying to get someone to review this very-nearly-overlooked record and in the time I was waiting I’d managed to listen to it twice.”
“In order to prepare myself for Rivers of Nihil’s sophomore effort, Monarchy, I naturally went back to The Conscious Seed of Light, which I initially hated. And lo and behold, this time I found that I liked it – even less.” Kronos the Merciless hath damned the rivers.
“Say what you will about Arizona’s Job for a Cowboy, but the divisive modern death metal unit certainly inspires fierce debate between metalheads on either side of the fence. I haven’t found much reason to form a strong opinion for the band one way or another, aside from their preposterous choice of moniker, and frankly I’ve been fairly nonplussed about their career thus far. Of course, for many they got off on the wrong foot from the beginning with the dreaded deathcore tag hanging heavily over their 2005 debut Doom EP.” God, I hate this band name so damn much.
A really curious thing happens from time to time that I think it’s time to comment on. Because we all (that is, those of us who read and/or write AngryMetalGuy.com) love heavy metal, we all essentially draw boundaries for it. It all depends on your perspective, but largely we say that one thing is metal and another thing is not. We make fun of the things we find to be not metal and we praise (and often deify unnecessarily) that which we find to be super metal. This is not a surprise. In fact, I’d guess that it’s a natural part of the human brain: we group things and put them in their place so as to better order our world. We also use cognitive short cuts in order to reach conclusions about the vast seas of information that exist outside of our existence.
What is the Job For A Cowboy? Is it an euphemism for a mercenary mission taken on by rogue gunslingers? Is it an exaggeration of the daily routine for some scruffy farm boy? Or is the name perhaps a raunchy joke leaving out the word “blow” on purpose? Well, whichever it is, in the context of reviewing this album, it’s a job for a fanboy if you’re expecting adulation.
I am not a trend hater. While the whole world has been hating on Deathcore for its tight pants and swoopy hair, I’ve been defending the fact that bands don’t have to “look like metal dudes” to make good metal. While jackass elitists are purging the genre from Encyclopaedia Metallum because they don’t like the trend, bands like Suicide Silence and Job for a Cowboy have shown that these bands can write killer riffs and produce solid records, even if they’re not stylistically something I’m a big fan of. Anima, unfortunately, is not so easy to defend.
