JOB FOR A COWBOY – “DEMONOCRACY”
METAL BLADE (2012)
Job For A Cowboy is a Death Metal/Deathcore quintet that was first unleashed upon the world back in 2003 and which, almost from day one, has enjoyed the full support of the renowned US label Metal Blade Records. Their first two studio albums were quite popular, especially back home, but never really managed to capture either my attention or imagination. Why? I found that their attempts to show off their technical abilities seriously undermined their ability to create coherent and, therefore, enjoyable compositions – something that I hoped their latest effort “Demonocracy” would change. Is this the album to finally convert me to this rather…unfortunately…named band?
Sadly the answer is a resounding ‘no’ – this is another fine example of the same re-hashed recipe. It is actually quite annoying, when you know how much potential these guys have and how skilled they are as individual performers, to realise that, when it comes to collective work, they seem unable to operate harmoniously. Though featuring quite a few striking individual Thrash riffs and lead solos, “Demonocracy”, with the exception of the more conventional “Tarnished Gluttony”, contains compositions that are simply not memorable – the worst possible thing for any album, regardless of genre.
Things looked promising when I heard the opening riff of “Children Of Deceit”, a composition that might be technically challenging but which still came across as pretty coherent and focused. The lead guitar work in “Nourishment Through Bloodshed” was not bad either, but this was not to last for long. The Morbid Angel influenced and quite enjoyable “Imperium Wolves” was followed by “Tongueless And Bound” and “Black Discharge” – both structurally confusing and overly technical for their own good. Jonny Davy’s varied vocal performances worked quite well with Al Glassman and Tony Sannicandro’s guitar -work in the case of “The Manipulation Stream” but the fine balance of composing was not achieved in “The Deity Misconception” and “Fearmonger” – both of which rely mainly on their lead solos for attracting attention. It is somewhat baffling the one of the most focused and stand-out tracks is left for the end but I am still trying to establish whether I like the groovy slow-riffed “Tarnished Gluttony” because of its individual artistic worth or because it provides a welcome break from all the fast technical and mostly unnecessary madness which characterises most of the preceding tracks.
Honestly, I doubt I will listen much to this album in the months to come – but not all fans will necessarily agree. In a day and age where Metal albums are released on almost a daily basis and at a truly alarming rate, bands need to ensure that their offerings are focused and competitive – something that I cannot say of “Demonocracy”. This may be an interesting exercise in speed and technical accuracy but it certainly is not an album that conventional Metal fans will easily warm to and so it needs to be approached with much caution.
John Stefanis
Rating: *** (3.5/5.0)
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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
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