It’s not often that you get caught off your guard and welcome the subsequent feeling. It’s not good in the sense of say getting caught off your guard by a lion whilst on safari in the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya and being ripped to shreds before lunch, watching your intestines being carried away. Point being (and I am getting to an eventual point), during the lockdown and its associated periods of self-isolation and mind numbing slices of boredom being slammed into your kidneys, You Tube became a close member of the family, that you could trust with you most innermost feelings, desires and dreams, where my search history would wildly pivot like a crack fuelled breakdance crew from Grimsby, laying down the linoleum and helicoptering for all they’re worth. It went from a day in the life of a pilot, things being put in blenders, to cats in hats, to Philadelphian hardcore metallers Jesus Piece, who certainly caught me well off my guard, but in a good way.
I was transported vicariously into various windmilling pits around the world, luxuriating in Jesus Piece’s muscular, groove laden, brutal, metallic hardcore. From those initial voyeuristic views to becoming a fully-fledged fan via some exorbitantly priced merch and their 2018’s debut album ‘Only Self’, which is still stands up as a highly competent debut offering, showcasing vocalist Aaron Heard’s hugely impressive growling and intensive stage persona, it’s a striking debut, highlighting the bands’ oeuvre, all growling guitars and drum syncopation, creating a glorious hybrid of Knocked Loose, Fear Factory and Hatebreed…I was immediately hooked.
Fast forward five years, via a move onto a major label, Jesus Piece return with their second album ‘…So Unknown’ hoping to cement their place within the nomenklatura of the metallic hardcore upper echelons. Right off the bat and we’re in familiar territory as opening track ‘In Constraints’ rips the tits off a pig and sashays to the bar whilst setting itself on fire. It’s all chugga-chugga-chugga guitars, a fearsome wall of noise, underpinned by ferocious growls and barked commands lying on a bed of beautifully staccato drum. As the album progresses, it continues in a similar vein, and it’s all perfectly capable and crushingly heavy. You could though, if you were to be ungenerous, being to conclude that Jesus Piece are somewhat of a one trick pony, a flat track bully, with nothing but muscular riffs and bile inflected bars. But Jesus Piece save themselves from accusations of simply rinsing and repeating. It’s not quite the screeching hand-break turn that say Metallica pulled from ‘..And Justice for All’ to the ‘Black’ album, no, it’s a little more subtle than that, replete with riffs that don’t simply sledge but shimmer and shimmy, alongside tonality and tempo changes thrown into the heady metalcore mix.
It’s still as heavy as balls but, it has enough variety in terms of song writing and the playing, whilst adding more textures and atmosphere to their output, adding depth and a modicum of geniality to proceedings that preclude Jesus Piece becoming a one trick pony. To be clear it doesn’t stay TOO far from their patented metallic stomp, but there is enough variation under the hood to make this an engaging and fearsome body of work that will appease their existing fanbase whilst collecting some new ones from the scene’s peripheries and beyond. Album closer ‘The Bond’ is a good example of the pivot Jesus Piece have taken. It has pitch, tempo and atmospheric nuances that mark this track (and album) as the direction in which the band seemed to be heading. More progressive and genre hopping, it provides welcome respite from much of the palpable aggression present on the rest of the album. It’s in these moments where Jesus Piece seem to come alive. I certainly wouldn’t encourage them to completely abandon their very clear and distinct musical paradigms for totally new musical pastures but, by embracing, finagling, and tweaking their core proposition, Jesus Piece have created a powerful and uncompromising album that builds on their already burgeoning reputation.
(8/10 Nick Griffiths)
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