Metal Album of The Week: Job For a Cowboy – Sun Eater
Congratulations, you’ve stumbled into a weekly column where Simon, our station resident metal-head, tells you about a new metal album that you haven’t heard and why that needs to change as soon as possible. Bask in the glory of the riffs, dear reader!
What’s that sound? Ah, yes, of course, the brandishing of pitchforks and knives and the lighting of torches. You all hate me, don’t you? Of course you do, as I failed to bring you a column last week! You probably all went out and lost your self-dignity by listening to some disgusting pop drivel, am I right? Of course I am. Anyways, if you demand an apology, you’re not getting one, but had I had time to write I would’ve picked the hilarious Revenge of the Vengeance by Psychostick. Happy? Good. Now we can move on to business.
This week’s pick, as you can tell by the title, is Job For A Cowboy’s Sun Eater. I was never a JFAC fan (I know JFAC sounds stupid but it’s easier to type). I skipped over their first full-length, Genesis, and dabbled with Ruination, their second. These two albums were simply boring to me and, while the band was achieving a lot of success, I simply didn’t understand it and basically wrote them off. Their third album, however, titled Demonocracy, was far more technical and really showed that the band was maturing. If you listen here, you can decide that for yourself.
But NOW, with Sun Eater, JFAC have pulled out all the stops and I must say; I am a fan. Yes, okay, the band could use a better name and I’ve seen far better cover art in my 21-year existence on this planet. But I’m not here to trash them for their style; it’s the songs on Sun Eater that make it awesome. These are some awesome technical death metal songs. They ooze skill without sounding too noodly, and the album has some groovier sections that can give the listener a change of pace.
Best part of this album: DAT BASS! Giving him a shoutout because I just Wikipedia’d (yeah, that’s a verb on this blog) his name, Nick Schendzielos is a killer bass player. He holds down the groove and has some impressive riffs of his own. The clean production style helps him stand out in the mix when he wants to do a fill, which is often enough to notice how badass he is but he’s not over-doing it and trying to overshadow the band. The man can hold down a groove as well.
So there you have it, a band that used to be popular for seemingly no reason now has a reason: they write bitchin’ good death metal tunes and aren’t afraid to show their technical side. If you consider yourself a “trve” or “kvlt” metal fan, you were probably going to skip over this release, but goddammit the Metal Gods sent me as their voice of reason and I’m telling you to listen! Here’s an awesome track to prove it to you:
-Simon SV