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By JEFF MAKI
You've probably seen the name around and, honestly, how could you forget it? A buzz has been circulating in the metal underground around Job for a Cowboy's full-length Metal Blade debut, Genesis. If it's outright brutality you're after, then look no further than this release. The name is misleading, as it makes the band sound like some sort of alternative act, maybe thrash metal at best. But Arizona's Job for a Cowboy is neither. They play an abrasive mix of death and grind, and create one of the heaviest assaults on the eardrums in recent memory.
Guttural vocals dominate, while some nifty technical-style guitar work intertwines with blast beats and numerous time changes. As it is with many extreme metal bands, Job for a Cowboy sounds most convincing and lethal when they revert to a slower, droning chug over the double bass, akin to Morbid Angel, especially in “Embedded,” where it very well could be Trey Azagthoth on guitar. “The Divine Falsehood” also stands out with a slower tempo and an Egyptian-esque guitar melody, a sound used more and more by today's extreme metal acts, particularly Nile and Behemoth. An eerie instrumental precedes entitled “Upheavel,” which works well to build tension and suspense in the album after the opening blasts of songs like “Bearing the Serpents Lamb” or “Altered from Catechization.”
Don't count on seeing members of Job for a Cowboy at Sunday Mass. Try these lyrics on for size. “Hell spills onto human world soil/Demons ascend from the subsurface/Dehydration of past flourishing bodies of water/Making the landscape deprived and desolate/Plagues of unhallowed locust thrive and seek torment/The new lord takes his throne.” The album keeps its blasphemous, vile nature throughout, with burning flesh, open wounds, armies of demons, bloodshed and warfare all among the lyrical topics.
While Genesis is not a masterpiece by musical standards, Job for a Cowboy executea precision extremity and provide just enough twists and turns to hold short attention spans. Several songs are almost identical after a first listen and the album's running time is short at 30 minutes, but we can all thank Satan himself for frontman Jonny Davy. His vocals sound as if he ascended from hell just prior to recording and will get attention among extreme vocalists if and when the band's success continues. That's a good bet, as they are part of Sounds of the Underground 2007 and ready to unleash demonic hell on American audiences.
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