 | Tracklist:
1.Bearing The Serpent's Lamb
2.Reduced to Mere Filth
3.Altered From Catechization
4.Upheaval
5.Embedded
6.Strings of Hypocrisy
7.Martyrdom Unsealed
8.Blasphemy
9.The Divine Falsehood
10.Coalescing Prophecy
| Ranking: #174 for 2007 | |
| | other reviews | Subrick (4.5)
Job for a Cowboy's first full length album is a rather good album of modern death metal. Despite it'... | Michael Roberts (3.5)
While still being heavy and brutal, Genesis shows both progression and maturity as it is a consisten... | Aaron (3)
Not bad, not bad...... |
On 12 Lists
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| Summary: On their full-length debut, Job for a Cowboy brings us a somewhat technical, somewhat brutal album that is, sadly, as forgettable as it is generic. |
13 of 13 thought this review was well written
Upon hearing that Job for a Cowboy was preparing to put out their first full-length album, I was somewhat eager to hear how this band would evolve. After their somewhat entertaining (even if it was average) Metalcore-ish Death Metal EP, Doom, a lot of people, myself included, were awaiting this band’s debut. Upon first listen, a few things are obvious:
A) It is certainly Death Metal-any Metalcore they had going on their previous release is all but made away with.
B) For better or for worse, there are no more pig squeals.
C) A lot more melody is subtly thrown into the mix.
Even though Job for a Cowboy grew out of the Deathcore trend, there really isn’t much separating this album from many of the other modern Death Metal releases. While this album shows growth on the band members’ part, there isn’t anything terribly creative or original on this album. To boot, the band often fails to differentiate between tracks, leaving many of them hard to remember even after a few listens.
Genesis is one of those albums that just gets more and more boring the more you listen to it. Many of the rhythms, while brutal, are awfully recycled and generic, often times degrading to E-String whoring to make one riff different from another. This tends to give each song roughly the same texture and feeling as the last, making the album, for the most part, very one-dimensional. More often than not, the drumming saves the tracks from all sounding exactly the same, as Elliot Sellers (who, to my understanding, played drums on this album shortly before he quit the band) does have a highly diverse arsenal of talents behind the kit.
While Genesis does offer some more technical and melodic moments, halfway through the album you find yourself thinking Didn’t I hear that lead on Track X? Many of the leads, if not close to being exactly the same, are the same flurry of notes in a different order. This, again, doesn’t help the fact that the album is already very one-dimensional. The solos, when used, do help to pull some of the tracks out of the mire and into “just another Death Metal song” territory. While not all that technical, they lend a helping hand to the flow of the songs they're used in and take away from the aforementioned one-dimensionality.
There are, however, a couple tracks that show more promise than the rest of the album. Embedded is a song that starts brutal, climbs down into mid-tempo territory and closes with a few bars of startlingly calming and melodic riffs with a well-crafted solo mixed in. The gloomy, doomy The Divine Falsehood, while not the best song of its type, shows that the band is at least trying to switch it up, as it is drastically different from the rest of the songs and offers a much-needed shift in gears.
The highlight of this album, really, is the lyrics. Genesis is a concept album covering the occurrence of the events as predicted in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. Naturally, they are a modern interpretation of the story, so there is a lot of lyrical content that covers technology and world government and how the Anti-Christ used them to make Earth the domain of Satan. Even if this sounds like a lame topic for an album, I recommend you at least give them a read, and if you have the album, to read along as you play the album to capture the full effect of them. Many-a-metalhead will tell you that you shouldn’t judge a metal band by their lyrics, but when they’re as good as this, they really deserve to be mentioned.
The vocals are another highlight. While many of Job for a Cowboy’s scenester fans were put off by Jonny Davy’s eschewing of the pig squeals that helped to popularize the band, he is much better off sticking with his staccato growling and shrieking that he has all but mastered on this record.
Job for a Cowboy certainly has potential, and Genesis’ best moments show it well. However, a few solid moments aren’t going to save a record littered with completely forgettable and uncreative moments from being mediocre. This album is average, not in every aspect, but there are certainly enough less-than average moments that would warrant such a rating when coupled with its good parts.
Pros
-Good vocals
-Good lyrics
-No more metalcore
-Good drumming
Cons
-Generic
-Forgettable
-Very, very short (Although, some haters might see this as a pro)
-Feels very recycled towards the middle-end
FINAL RATING: 2.5/5
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 2.5
First review, tell me how I did.
Digging: Leviathan - Tentacles of Whorror | | | Album Rating: 1.5
well, at least the rating is lower then the last review.
Voted. :p
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You suck!
Just kidding. Pretty good reveiew for a first. But until you change your avatar to Scum, noone vote for it!
EDIT: Crav!! I'll whip out the bearded man if I have to!This Message Edited On 08.10.07
| | | Album Rating: 2
I agree heartily with the review.
It's written well too, good content and length, but to be honest, I was never a fan of sub-titles in reviews. They just screw with the flow and this review really doesn't need them.
Great for a first though.
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This is really great. Keep reviewing, man.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Just kidding. Pretty good reveiew for a first. But until you change your avatar to Scum, noone vote for it!
fine, the album art on scum is better than FETO, even if the album itself isnt as good ^^
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
YOU FAIL!
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YES YOU FAIL! SCUM = GOD IN GRINDCORE FORM! NEG THIS REVIEW FOR THAT, FOOL!
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
lol
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I was never a fan of sub-titles in reviews. They just screw with the flow and this review really doesn't need them.
explain further, i don't really know what you mean by sub-titles
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Hbp the fact that you've rated this as high as a 3 negates your opinion on music...just kidding. Good review masscows.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Ich werde Sie zerschneiden und werde Ihre Innereien essen!
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Hbp the fact that you've rated this as high as a 3 negates your opinion on music...just kidding. Good review masscows. The fact that your Username is what it is takes away your right to breathe...no joke.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
you know he could be referring to the mythical beast and not the band
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The fact that your Username is what it is takes away your right to breathe...no joke.
And yet you still obeyed his command.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
what would be your first assumption on a MUSIC site?This Message Edited On 08.10.07
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Yeah, what command? What drug are you on, pal?
| | | Album Rating: 2
explain further, i don't really know what you mean by sub-titles
Having one bit entitled 'The Music', then 'The Lyrics', Then 'Conclusion'.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
yeah they really aren't necessary, i'll try to avoid that on my next one.
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Perhaps command is the wrong word. He says that because you rated this album a 3, he doesn't respect your opinions on music. Because of this, you immediately lowered your rating to a 2.5, showing that you care what he thinks about you. In spite of this, you insulted his username in a "fuck you" manner, implying that you don't care about his opinion. I was merely noting the discrepancy.
But your right, he really didn't give you a command.
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