One of the perks of this job is getting to form a relationship with bands who then ask you if you can review their mates’ record. This is certainly the case when Peter from Bloodthread approached me and asked to have a listen to Dublin melodic death metal group Jenova. I am glad that he did as Jenova have released a crushing EP called The Less You Know, The More You Sleep and I urge you all to give this a listen.
Opener “The Walking Dead” opens with an opening sequence that just emanates class and although reminiscent of something Suffocation would do at their slowest; the musicianship on show on this song is excellent. What impressed me about this song are the multiple time changes but each change has been controlled and added to the atmosphere of the song. One of the many strong points of the whole EP is the vocals of Brian. I had to double take to see who the dual vocalists were when writing this and found that Brian is the only vocalist of the band. He can change his multiple vocal styles with ease and certainly in the mould of Travis Ryan from Cattle Decapitation. Guitar riffs from Cormac and Dillon are melodic and play like Gojira and are backed with a tight and technical rhythm section of Marco on drums and David on bass.
“The Final Tide” opens with screaming vocals reminiscent of Suicide Silence on top of sounds that focus on being heavy rather than blasting at full speed. Jenova know how to put the element of groove in there which gets this head banging to the extent that I had to replace the keys on my keyboard. Deep growls are then soon the order for the day and along with the groove element, this must surely be something to watch in the live environment. The sound of the EP is excellent and captures the identity of the song perfectly. The bass which is somewhat overlooked in some recordings but it is shown to shine here and David shows that he is a very competent musician.
“Nihil Deorum” opens with a groove element and stunning riffs from Cormac and Dylan backed with sound effects that just build atmosphere and crushing heaviness that has to be heard. A mixture of deep growls and screeches from Brian again just brings everything into life here and honestly, this is something you have to listen to in order to appreciate what is on show here. The best part is the end of the song where there is silence before Marco gets the double bass and snare rolling before heavy groove riff blasts these speakers. This again is something that has to be heard.
Final song of the EP, “Rains”, starts off with acoustic guitars something that Skid Row played in their heyday, however, when the vocals kick in, they certainly are not Sebastian Bach’s vocals. This song starts off being the slowest on the EP with those screeching vocals again mixed with a groove riff. This could be seen as their ballad compared to the rest of their tracks but its expertly played and a worthy album closer. Best part of the song is when all the instruments sound as if they have been down tuned and backed with probably Brian’s deepest growls of the whole EP backed up by double bass and you all know how much I like my double bass.
Not quite strictly death metal or deathcore, but something in-between. Overall, this is something mixed together that really hasn’t been done before and if you’re looking for something original, Jenova provides this in spades.
The Less You Know, The More You Sleep is out on August 25th
Jenova: facebook | soundcloud
