Jesu

Silver

(Hydra Head)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

Jesu (pronounced JAY-ZU) is more of a project than an actual band—a duo made up of Justin K. Broadrick (Napalm Death, Godflesh) and Ted Parson, who seems to share Broadrick’s interest in fuzzed-out, distorted music that they believe is “perfect for drifting off and smoking too much dope.”

It is definitely easy to drift off while the Silver EP is on.  As for the other part, I don’t necessarily like to promote the use of illegal substances while listening to music, but, hey…to each their own.  The songs feature a lot of crooning and repetitive guitars, while Broadrick’s sporadic vocals wander in and out.  After refreshing my memory of Napalm Death and Godflesh, I was quite surprised to hear Broadrick’s actual singing voice, finding it similar to that of Mark Hoppus, particularly on “Star,” in which he sings “If I could just forget it / Like you do / If I could just forget it.”

My personal favorite song is the eight-and-a-half minute industrial goth-rocky closing track, “Dead Eyes.”  It’s more synthed-out than the three other songs on the EP and sounds like it could be music made for an anime flick.  In an interview with Rock Sound, the men of Jesu said they feel that if this release works properly, it could have more of an impact than what’s come before.  Instead of forming a new metal band, Broadrick keeps proving his versatility by doing the exact opposite.  The only trace of metal on this album is its title (haha).