JOB FOR A COWBOY

I didn't like Job for a Cowboy's previous album. Without retreading old ground, I hated the manufactured feel of it all; the Sugababes of death metal (Meshuggahbabes anyone?). So, with some amount of trepidation married to boredom, I decided to give their latest a cursory spin. Throwing me off guard immediately was the groovy nature of opener, and title track, 'Ruination'. A very low in the mix vocal washes through some doomy riffs and picks after a brief introductory piece of feedback, sounding very ‘Alice in Chains’. Then it explodes into a very Vader-esque mid pacer. Happily confused, and trying to hold back any further optimism, I ventured forth to track 2. This was more of your emblematic modern death metal than the opener, but was in fact well-written and, naturally, performed exceptionally. Is this even the same band I wonder? Apart from a new drummer and guitarist, it would certainly seem so. It's not often that I have a complete reversal of opinion on a band but it's starting to look like this might just happen here. Except, by track 6, things are starting to get slowly repetitive. I'm not saying that the album nose-dives and explodes in a fury of arse-puckering nausea from here, but there is a definite decline, not in quality solely, but in maintaining the momentum of the opening half of the album. This is a shame, because there is a lot of promise here; something I hope they capitalise on for future records. As it is, this is a large step towards erasing the memory of their debut. Who knows, their next might be their masterpiece.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Blade Records

Album

RUINATION

Review by Steve Cowan

RUNNING TIME:

40:31

RELEASE DATE:

6th July 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Unfurling a Darkened Gospel
2) Summon the Hounds
3) Constitutional Masturbation
4) Regurgitated Disinformation
5) March to Global Enslavement
6) Butchering the Enlightened
7) Lords of Chaos
8) Psychological Immorality
9) To Detonate and Exterminate
10) Ruination

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

USA

"...this is a large step towards erasing the memory of their debut. Who knows, their next might be their masterpiece."