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.
Enter "Unfurling a Darkened Gospel", the opening track of Ruination, which totally blows away my mixed-up perception of Job. They established a brutal and distinctive sound that I wished they'd kept going into the recording of Gloom. I enjoyed this record's sound more than anything else about it, because it was even better than Doom and much more distinctive than Genesis. The double-bass pedals are well-mastered in this record, always pounding in the background and providing a backdrop for the myriad of mind-shredding technical riffs and excellent solos. Jonny Davy's vocals, while as over-edited as ever, sound great with the new sound rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. This collection of instruments (yes, vocals are instruments) really come together and sound great. Specific moments where they sound exceptional would be the latter portion of "Summon the Hounds", the intro to "Regurgitated Disinformation", and the entirety of "Ruination".
The bass is important in this record. Yes, you read that correctly. There's an audible illusion of atmosphere that comes from all this instrumental action while the baseline and bass pedals do their thing at a steady pace. In "March to Global Enslavement", it almost sounds like there are a bunch of tanks rolling out because of it. It's a really clever tool that Job used and I applaud them for it. As far as actual atmosphere, the title track is about all you're going to get, and even then, much of it is through the music video.
Job for a Cowboy has also noticeably spent more time on their lyrics and concept than on previous releases, bringing a heavily political focus to this one, not to mention much more poetic lyrics. That's refreshing, but it doesn't make up for the ho-hum music that's plastered all over the songs soundwise.
It's simply that what is written here is less memorable, aside from a few tracks where the band flies off the handle to induce a headbanging frenzy akin to several of the Genesis pieces. For one, the album feels mildly less atmospheric. It lacks the cool atmosphere of the last, due primarily to its lack of instrumental dark ambient/industrial/horror interludes. With the exception of "Ruination", the closing title track, it's a pretty straight shooter of modern US brutality which reminds a lot of other young bands like Revocation or Odious Mortem, only with a lot more mosh stomping and a lot less of those bands' high quality riffs. The vocals here are the standard grunts and rasps of Jonny Davy that you know form the past releases, but I would actually say he has overall improved, especially on the painful delivery of the upper register snarling. The band are in pretty fine form...it's a tightly wound and well executed slab of death metal and proficiency. But the last album had a few tracks that seared themselves straight onto my brain, and this just feels like an exercise in violent neck injuries that grows slightly tired before the 40 minutes are up.
The real issue with the band as a whole is that they refuse to stick to one style. That would be marvelous if their styles were all great, but... just look at Gloom, you'll see what I mean. It seems rather hit-or-miss since that EP's release, and until they get a good handle on their musical talent - of which they have plenty - it's going to stay hit-or-miss.
The mix of the album is top notch, with a thick, present bass that subsists wonderfully beneath the dual guitar punctures and the intense drumming. This guy certainly got himself a workout, but then again, it's what most expect out of a tech death metal or deathcore drummer these days. There's not much negative to say about Ruination except that the majority of the tracks fail to deliver a sequence of notes as an injection to the gray matter. It sounds sleek, and may still appeal to fans who just want a high quality mix of punching rhythms they can dance or bang heads to. Certainly you could listen to this and acknowledge it's brutality, but by now this has already done so many times that the songs really need to be stronger to stand out from the massive crowd of peers. It seems this cowboy's 'Job' has gone from a rodeo hopeful to filling the troughs and shoveling the bales of hay.
Track List
1. Unfurling a Darkened Gospel
2. Summon the Hounds
3. Constitutional Masturbation
4. Regurgitated Disinformation
5. March to Global Enslavement
6. Butchering the Enlightened
7. Lords of Chaos
8. Psychological Immorality
9. To Detonate and Exterminate
10.Ruination
Ruination
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