Jinjer
Duél


3.3
great

Review

by Tyler White STAFF
February 12th, 2025 | 26 replies


Release Date: 02/07/2025 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Perfecting the formula, for better or for worse

Duél is a great album. It has everything Jinjer is known for: the heavy, progressive guitar work, Tatiana’s balance of clean and harsh vocals, and the dynamic songwriting shifting from aggressive to melodic effortlessly. “Rogue” and “Fast Draw” are absolute thrashers, full of hectic riffing and non-stop, chaotic pacing. Others like “Tumbleweed” and “Kafka” lean heavier into the melodic side, relying on clean vocal passages to complement the chemistry of the techy instrumentation. Meanwhile, tracks like “Tantrum” and “Dark Bile” strike a balance between the two, finding the perfect contrast between Jinjer’s heavier moments and their more beautiful, melodic moments. The problem of the album doesn’t lie in the songwriting; it’s simply Jinjer doing Jinjer things. However, the problem of Duél is how safe it is. While it is a fun listening experience, full of head-banging worthy riffs and catchy chorus passages, it doesn’t feel like anything new from the band. They have fully mastered their craft, and they have found their formula that feels comfortable – that comes with its own set of consequences. Any of the tracks here could have found their home on Wallflowers and they wouldn’t feel out of place. While this is a testament to their ability to remain consistent, it also leads to stagnation in sound. Sure, Duél is a fine sounding album in isolation, but in the bigger picture of their discography, it feels like Jinjer on autopilot.



Recent reviews by this author
jasmine.4.t You Are The MorningTremonti The End Will Show Us How
Linkin Park From ZeroChat Pile Cool World
Allt From the New WorldSeether The Surface Seems So Far
user ratings (71)
3.4
great
other reviews of this album
Jake (4)
Duél is Jinjer at their most confident, delivering a relentless, groove-heavy assault that balances...



Comments:Add a Comment 
tyman128
Staff Reviewer
February 12th 2025


4729 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

Felt like getting a short review out there

This is a fun album, and I can admit that "Rogue" and "Dark Bile" are super fun to come back, but it just feels like they kept going back to the same well for ideas here

Tundra
February 12th 2025


10404 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Don't hear anything that stokes the feeling of "their heaviest yet", "best vocal performance yet" on this to me. Nothing here is as heavy as something like Ape, and Perennial remains Tatiana's best vocal performance.

tyman128
Staff Reviewer
February 12th 2025


4729 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

Oh for sure, it just kinda fits in with the rest of their discog for me. It has their heavy moments, has their melodic moments, has both of them together, but nothing that hasn't been done before (and better)

JohnDillinger
February 13th 2025


347 Comments


fuck my comment

metalprofiteer
February 13th 2025


76 Comments


Why are we talking about Spiritbox in a Jinjer review? =/

SteakByrnes
February 13th 2025


30704 Comments


Never got the hype for this band in the slightest and I doubt this would change that. Good review ty homie

TheTripP
February 13th 2025


4742 Comments


yeah as much as I enjoy Wallflowers the initial listen on this one isn't doing too much for me overall. Some good moments though and may click with more listens

tyman128
Staff Reviewer
February 13th 2025


4729 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

How are we comparing Jinjer to Spiritbox here

Durrzo
February 14th 2025


3517 Comments


Because both bands have singers with vaginas and that makes them basically the same.

JohnDillinger
February 14th 2025


347 Comments


My comment was dumb as fuck.

swaggubeef
February 14th 2025


95 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

mine's better

Numali
February 14th 2025


10 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Ok-Ish at best.

XfingTheSullen
February 14th 2025


5442 Comments


Jinjer is one of those bands we were just told to like because the mainstream metal media can't shut up about them. I tend to stay away from such bands on principle, even though "king of everything" was rather good

swaggubeef
February 14th 2025


95 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Anything less than a 3.5 and you've lost the plot with music entirely

Teal
February 14th 2025


638 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I really enjoy this album. I didn't think Jinjer could get heavier and less approachable, but here we are. My favorites on here are Rogue and Fast Draw (although the live version is better).

Alien Six
February 14th 2025


92 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I find Duél to be a major step up from Wallflower, actually. The songwriting on their previous album was so messy that few songs really stood out. Every time I went back to that album hoping to latch onto something I found myself skipping through a lot of it because it turned into riff salad.



This album definitely is in line with the sound they settled with Wallflower, but they trimmed a lot of the fat. Songs feel much more tight and distinct on Duel. Yeah they're not breaking new ground, but this is definitely the tightest they've been since Macro. So I'm digging it.

tyman128
Staff Reviewer
February 14th 2025


4729 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

"Anything less than a 3.5 and you've lost the plot with music entirely"

how so?

swaggubeef
February 15th 2025


95 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

@tyman128 refer to 1:52 in Rogue



If you can't feel the underlying rhythm throughout the album and cannot tell that they have perfected their craft with only a couple slight missteps, then you are pretending to be something you are not.

Crxmateo
Contributing Reviewer
February 16th 2025


177 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Review sums this album up perfectly

tyman128
Staff Reviewer
February 18th 2025


4729 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

swaggu, I mentioned that they have perfected their craft, and that this album is great

I'm not giving it a lower rating because it is in essence a lower quality album, but rather that they have perfected their formula to a point that it feels they are recycling and treading on what they've already done before

And I'm not really sure what that segment from Rogue you're point out does... it is a great rhythmic section but I don't really see how it proves how this album warrants more than a 3.5



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy