Album Reviews
- by Tom Dumarey
When I woke up this morning, I spent the first couple of minutes trying to open my eyes. I then stumbled down the stairs, got the coffee started and enjoyed my first cup. Only then did I experience the vaguest sense of being awake. Turns out I could have gone about it a lot faster by listening to Jesus Piece’s ‘Only Self’. It won’t be gentle or altogether pleasant, but you will be awake and halfway into a crossfit session by the time it’s over.
This Philadelphia-based metallic hardcore band is heavy as fuck and writes songs in the key of Harm’s Way and Xibalba by mixing hardcore, sludge and 90’s metalcore. Built around big breakdowns, tons of chugga chugga riffs and a rhythm section so heavy it will rattle the fillings out of your teeth, Jesus Piece have everything on board to pummel your ass into oblivion. Add Aaron Heard’s downright ferocious, growled vocals and you are looking at one downright nasty beast of an album.
What makes ‘Only Self’ even more interesting than just another effective lesson in beatdown brutality, is the fact that the band throws in ambient interludes and speech samples. Kinda like Paint It Black did on ‘New Lexicon’ with the help of Dalek’s Oktopus. From the pit-inducing opener that is ‘Lucid’ to the bleak and haunting soundscape ‘I,’ which then segues into the slow and crushing ‘II,’ Jesus Piece one massive hardcore album with ‘Only Self’.
Track listing:
- Lucid
- Workhorse
- Punish
- Curse of the Serpent
- In the Silence
- Adamant
- Neuroprison
- Dog No Longer
- I
- II
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
