aaamusic | On 24, Jul 2011

Best known for his pummelling hardcore outfit Hatebreed, and the sludge supergroup Kingdom Of Sorrow, Jasta is now fronting his own band, taking a leaf from Danzig’s book in giving it his own name, and brining along fellow KOS members to play… well, hardcore-inflected metal, with a bit more thrash and rock to shine through the sludge.

 

Cynicism about genre specifics and lack of name variation aside, I’ll hold up my hands and say that ‘Jasta’ is for all intents and purposes a very good album. ‘Walk That Path Alone’ might be a bit sophomoric at points, relying a little too heavily on swear words to drive the point home, but it is driven by a stellar sludge/thrash hybrid in the instrumental sound, and ‘Mourn The Illusion’ delivers clout and passion, the searing chugs and riffs picked out with surgically precise production values and of course a great performance from all musicians, tight as anything you’d hope for. Jasta’s own contribution leads the way, a howling roar like a furious lion that’s been raised on Judas Priest and Crowbar.

‘Screams From The Sanctuary’ really should have been the opener – the stop/start chords push the volume into red and beyond, blended with Jasta’s startling vocal delivery that lifts the cliché opening lines into something attention-grabbing, and then the real song gets going, a furious churning riff and killer chorus that is brutal and fascinating all at once, distorted guitars sounding like concrete golems trampling a cymbal warehouse, leading nearly seamlessly into the doomy Pantera groove of ‘Nothing They Say’, where downtuned malevolence is draped cloaklike over a rock n roll swagger and uncharacteristic feral sexuality rarely seen in sludge and hardcore, the chorus breaking into a guttural singalong that pounds into the listener’s brain with red hot intensity, leading into a workmanlike classic rock/heavy metal solo that’s a treat to the ears before a real moshpit of a finisher that thrashes all hell out of each instrument. This thrash-influenced attitude, with bits of speed metal, can be found all over ‘Set You Adrift’, and the death-edged ‘Enslaved, Dead Or Depraved’, both of which are lightspeed marathons of pounding percussion, snarling vocals, and riffs made of lead and sandpaper strapped to jet engines. This all comes to its pinnacle in ‘The Fearless Must Endure’, a thrilling moshpit-inducing rocker that stomps and swaggers and brings in spades all the talent the band possess in a glossy yet passionate and raw monster of a track that easily stands out as a winner, alongside its infectious follower ‘Heart Of A Warrior’, with its shout-along chorus.

Bleakness rules ‘Anthem Of The Freedom Fighter’, a sludgy low guitar opening slowly bringing on the atmosphere over cavernous yet skittering percussion, before the song breaks into a savage marching pace that gathers inescapable momentum with its call-and-response chorus and righteously furious lyrics. Contrast that with the chugging melodicism of ‘Something You Should Know’, with an alt-rock chorus and vocal approach that features Jasta singing rather than snarling with a husky, classic-rock style, and we’re really given the impression that Jasta and co. are trying to push their own boundaries but keeping to what they do well – a wise move.

I’ll say that ‘With A Resounding Voice’ surprised me – given the slow distortion-heavy intro I was expecting Crowbar-isms all over a sludge track, but what I got was like hitting fast forward on the aforementioned, a tumultuous, exhilarating hardcore take on the style, a stomping riff complimented by ominous lead guitar buildups and drumming that switches from metal to mental with no warning.

No holds are barred on closing track ‘Death Bestowed’, Jasta howling his lungs out over a track that sounds like a studio-created apocalypse, as every band member throws in all they’ve got in one last-ditch frenzy of noise that leaves the listener as stunned and ringing as any truly thrilling live gig would render them.

 

Despite a shaky start, ‘Jasta’ is a great album, a diverse, passionate and most importantly exciting rock-out that deserves a place on the shelves of any self-respecting metalhead of this day and age.

 

Author: Katie H-Halinski