Review Summary: Relative unknowns in the world of music combine many subgenres of metal to make one of 2010's most interesting releases.
(Written originally June 2, 2010)
2010 has seen an unsettlingly small smattering of truly awesome metal albums. We've had High on Fire, Ihsahn, Bison B.C. (maybe), and Shining (which is probably the only other metal release this year offering something new), but really that's about it. Everything else seems to either blatantly ape an already-hip genre or fall short of replicating a classic (or it's just some generic *** for the masses). And then, we have Jamón, and oh how refreshingly unique it is.
Right from the first track you know this is a sludge album, so that might get you thinking, everyone seems to do sludge these days, haven't I heard this before? The first couple minutes of the 10-minute opener "You Want to Live, but We Will Die Free," if you're not into epic tracks, might dupe you into thinking these guys are trying to lovingly rip an extra noisy Isis. Now, an Isis comparison is a decent one, but as the beat locks down through the next couple of minutes, you have a song that would be on some mix CD that a metalhead would put in his car (think Merzbow meets Motörhead), and with that there is something awesome. As the track progresses you have the background noise, the driving beat, and the ever-so-subtly low-in-the-mix vocals that one would otherwise find irritating, but work marvelously here.
Then comes the anthemic would-be single, "For the Glory of Man," which is easily the album's most accessible track. With this track you have melodic metal done right; not generic-sounding death metal with somewhat subtle melodic basslines, but what even some uncultured bro would actually be able to define as enjoyable music, as throughout the track you hear harmonized vocals, almost poppy guitar riffs, but still the same noisy sludge you expected from the first track. And this mother***er builds - going from calm, harmonized vocals into a screaming, noisy guitar assault a bit more than halfway through the track that clearly displays the post-sludge influence that permeates this entire album.
I'm not going to sit and write five track reviews (although I could, as the album only has five tracks), but once you get through the first two, you get the general idea of what kind of ride you're in for, and you still have about 42 minutes left on the album. This record flows beautifully; plus, there's something here for every metal fan to enjoy, and even a few things here for those who aren't normally accustomed to this type of music. You can draw a lot of influence from various bands - to name a few, Isis, Neurosis, and Boris (see a theme here?); but as you take a closer listen, you'll notice that even some of the pioneers of heavy metal itself get their dues paid here (note: "And Remember the Good Times"). There is not one relatable band in particular that stands out here though, which makes Jamón something new, unique, and the best metal album of 2010 so far.
