Review Summary: There's a difference between being and understanding.
Jonah 33: The Heart of War
There’s a difference between understanding and being. Understanding is basically knowing what it takes to be something, and knowing what is required. Being is actually being what is required, and achieving the final goal of being good, maybe even great. Jonah 33 (yes, they are a Christian band), understands what it takes to be a good, maybe even a great post-grunge/rock band. They have some good riffs, driving drums, and semi-decent vocals. The problem is the flaws in all of this. The riffs get old and are generic, drums are basically the same each track, and the vocals get annoying on the harder songs. Most of the potential is buried underneath these flaws.
Like a typical post-grunge/rock record, the album has slower tracks and harder tracks. The harder tracks are the weak points. Songs like “Bullets”, “Scream”, and “Bravery” aren’t horrible songs on their own, but tend to sound just like each other. The rockers are comprised of a typical song structure: heavier, guitar-riff led intro, quietly sung verse, louder chorus comprised of faux-half screams and semi-decent vocals, quietly sung second verse, guitar-and-drum led breakdown. This sucks the tracks of replay value, and also detracts from the album. Another huge negative of the album, but especially the harder tracks, is vocalist Vince Lichlyter. He tries to have a gruff, scratchy voice, but it doesn’t come off well. Basically, he sounds like an unsuccessful John Cooper rip-off. His half-screams are also rough. Instead of sounding cutting or even half-serious, they trail off sounding like painful yelps. With a different vocalist, Jonah would be better off. And as stated earlier, the instruments are pretty mediocre and repetitive, and it’s nothing you haven’t heard before (for the most part) in this genre. However, all isn’t totally lost for the rock tracks. Second track “Fire At Will” isn’t terribly atrocious. There’s a cool, clean-guitar led intro, an almost-solo that’s one of the higher points of the record. Also in this track is possibly the best breakdown of the album, even featuring a decent drum solo. Song “Scream” packs some decent energy, and Vince actually sounds somewhat comfortable with his role, instead of ripping off Cooper. There’s a solo towards the end of “Scream” as well, and though short (and somewhat ripping off the “Fire” solo), it’s not bad. Also, the bass is somewhat audible during the verses in “Bullets.” However, the heavy tracks are one of the main pitfalls of the album.
The slower tracks are where there’s a little more hope for the band. In “Brand New Way To Live,” there’s some acoustic guitar playing towards the beginning that stands out from the generic riffing. Vince sounds more comfortable, even somewhat good (except for in the chorus, which is bad.) There’s some good bass riffs in mid-tempo number “No Song Left To Sing”, and the somber, mid-tempo “Last One Standing” is actually quite enjoyable. Album closer “Dying To Live” is alright, but Vince’s voice gets in the way of it truly being enjoyable. The softer tracks are better, but not much.
Lyrically, the album is rough. There’s supposed to be a theme of spiritual warfare, but lyrics like “bygons be bygons” and “scream if you’re ready to die” just come off cheesy and contrived.
Jonah 33 could eventually be a good band. But for now, they are stuck in the legions of generic, average post-grunge/rock bands. I wouldn’t really recommend this to everyone, but I will say it’s a good stepping stone to harder rock. Thanks for reading.
