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Job For A Cowboy: Ruination

03/09/09 || Euthanatos

Job For a Cowboy is a band that amuses me. Not because of their songs, or playing, but because of the bad-rap they get. People in the death metal scene call them sell-outs and media whores. I’m sorry, what? That reminds me so much of the black metal scene, it’s ridiculous. So to be a “respected” death metal band, you have to stay in the deep, dark dungeons of the underground? Using the Internet to spread your music is a big no-no? So, you essentially want artists to not make any money and not have this be the means of their living, right? I mean, where is the sense in that? What am I missing? People say Job for a Cowboy is all that is wrong in death metal and is bringing down the scene. I think that kind of attitude is what keeps the scene down in the first place.

Sure, you can hate the band solely because of what they play, and then that is all fair and square. Personally, I liked “Genesis” a lot more than the famed “Doom” EP, though to this day I don’t know what’s so special about it. But it is in “Ruination” that I see a band truly come into its own and release a great death metal album. What? Deathcore? I also have no idea where this insane idea that JFAC is deathcore came from. Deathcore is a hybrid between death metal and hardcore, or metalcore, I’m supposing. So where’s the hardcore in all of this? Because I sure as hell don’t hear it, particularly on this album.

I honestly cannot say anything bad about this album. The vocals are much better this time around, much fuller and coherent. There’s enough variety to keep one interested, and it never falters, consistent through and through. The drumming has also come leaps and bounds, being the perfect example of technical, but without overdoing it. It’s surprisingly creative and the production greatly enhances its sound. The guitars are a bit raw and in the background, which is a bit disappointing, but not enough to make my cock go limp. Quite the contrary, the riffs and solos are filled with badassery enough. And, it is a death metal album, so naturally there is no bass to be heard. People could take lessons from Entombed on this. Yes, that’s a hint.

True enough, Job For a Cowboy haven’t reinvented death metal, but they sure as hell have released the best work of their career, and it’s good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the greats in the genre. While still a bunch of young men, they’ve certainly evolved monstrously, and I for one am surely excited to watch (and hear) their progression.

While “Ruination” is a pretty neat album all on its own, it does feel like it’s only a step on the way to greater achievements. Let’s hope I’m right and these guys keep busting their chops. Hell, we need them to keep going if for no other reason than to hear their fans chanting “Job! Job! Job!” in their concerts, which has to be the most hilarious thing death metal has ever seen.

The cover: It has that weird dead ox head thing, which honestly freaks me out a little bit, but there’s all sorts of cool shit in the background.

8,5

Information
Released: 2009
Label: Metal Blade
Website: www.jfacmetal.com
Band
Jonny Davy: vocals
Bobby Thompson: guitars
Al Glassman: guitars
Brent Riggs: bass
Jon “The Charn” Rice: drums

Tracklist
01. Unfurling a Darkened Gospel
02. Summon the Hounds
03. Constitutional Masturbation
04. Regurgitated Disinformation
05. March to Global Enslavement
06. Butchering the Enlightened
07. Lords of Chaos
08. Psychological Immorality
09. To Detonate and Exterminate
10. Ruination

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