Formed in 2003 and hailing from Arizona, Job for a Cowboy has to be one of the most controversial death metal bands in terms of their sound. When they started out, they adopted a style of music that would definitely become one of the most maligned and hated subgenres of extreme metal. Of course, I am speaking of deathcore. The “Doom” EP, not counting the band’s 2004 demo, is Job for a Cowboy’s sole deathcore recording. After this, in 2007, they would change to a death metal style with their debut full-length album “Genesis”. So what we have here is a deathcore EP that got JFAC noticed by a lot of people within the metal community. And yes, a lot of people hate it. But is it really that bad? Hell no, it ain’t. [1]
After that eerie intro track “Catharsis for the Buried” which sounds like someone either being buried alive or imprisoned somewhere, we get the first actual song, “Entombment of a Machine”. This is one of JFAC’s most well-known songs and since its release has become a fan favorite. This song contains some impressive guitar work and expected breakdowns that actually do stick out a bit musically. “Knee Deep” is another song that really got a lot of attention and honestly, it’s probably my favorite track on here. This was actually the first JFAC song I heard with the ever-infamous video combining the song with a SpongeBob video. Anyway, the songwriting here is actually pretty damn good, especially considering at this time, the band was pretty young. The breakdowns near the song’s halfway point and about 3 minutes in, as well as the one that closes the song out, are among my favorite moments on the EP and are fairly heavy. My only real gripe with the guitar work is the lack of solos. I would have loved to hear these songs with some added solos. Although, if you get the Metal Blade records re-release with the bonus track “Entities”, you do get a guitar solo. It’s not the most impressive but it’s something. This song also contains riffs that border on technical death metal. It’s probably the most death metal sounding track on the entire EP. [1]
Surprisingly, this album has a lot of different influences found within the music. Some songs such as "The Rising Tide", have a very distinct black metal influence to be found in the song's many riffs. Also, not that this album is overly technical, but a lot of the parts in these songs can be very intricate at times. It's not Gojira or Rivers Of Nihil level of technical, but damn does it sound good. Because of the slight technical influence found in the music, many of the songs have a lot of different moving parts within them, and it can be very easy to get lost at times if you are not paying attention. Ravi Bhadriaju & Andrew Acurio write some of the best riffs in the genre, and if you need proof of this, listen to "Catharsis for The Buried" & "Entombment of a Machine". [2]
The vocals on this release are also killer. Jonny Davy has a nice mix of gutturals and shrieks, and he sounds pretty damn killer using both styles. Chelsea Grin? Please...absolute shit compared to this. Even the legendary Mitch Lucker can't compare to this shit. It's that damn good. Very brutal indeed. Drummer Elliot Sellers helps keep the music together with his intricate technical playing, meets hardcore in the breakdown's of theses songs. Oh and guess what? NO CLICHE BREAKDOWNS TO BE FOUND! THERE'S HONEST TO GOD EFFORT TO BE FOUND HERE! [2]
Compared to any of the band’s following albums, Jonny’s vocals here are quite different. He still uses a similar style of growls and screams but here, he implemented the infamous pig squeal technique. He ended up dropping this before “Genesis” and this certainly pleased a lot of people. I’m fairly indifferent myself, as I don’t really mind pig squeals, and his vocal range on this EP is quite good. I know plenty of folks would disagree with me here but I’m sticking to my guns on Jonny’s vocal performance. Regardless, he certainly improved later on. [1]
This EP certainly has some polarizing opinions. I know plenty of death metal fans who hate it and because of this EP, hate JFAC overall. However, I also am acquainted with death metal fans who actually like this EP and don’t mind the “deathcore” branding it gets. I know a lot of deathcore fans love this but hate the band for evolving their sound on later albums. I’m glad they switched to a death metal sound but “Doom” was certainly a good start for the boys. [1]
Tracks
- Catharsis for the Buried
- Entombment of a Machine
- Relinquished
- Knee Deep
- The Rising Tide
- Suspended by the Throat
If you like it, please buy it on their official website/store.
These reviews are written by BlackMetal213 and drummingnerd99 on Metallum.
References:
BlackMetal213, Not as bad as everyone seems to think, www.metal-archives.com[1]
drummingnerd99, THIS IS HOW DEATHCORE SHOULD BE DONE, www.metal-archives.com[2]
No comments