Job for a Cowboy: Sun Eater

The track "Eating the Visions of God" seems a fitting lead-in to this review. To my mind, it sounds like a reference to Revelations 10:9: "And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey." If I understand right, the motif of eating the words of God has to do with not only bringing them inside but also of understanding that not everything, including things divine, are tasty and sweet. I suspect the motif of eating books / the words of God appears elsewhere but I'll leave that for specialists in Biblical literature.

Why am I quoting the Bible? Because "Eating the Visions of God" reminds me of that passage from Revelation but also because this album will be sweet to some and bitter to others. It's a perfect opening track in that respect. You see, this much-anticipated album has received a rather mixed critical audience. Some are calling it more of the same from Job for a Cowboy, whereas others are calling it something new. Whatever it is, the result is often mixed—sweet and bitter, just like the Biblical passages concerning the end of the world.

I've been listening to this band for only about three years. I saw them live during their stint on the Mayhem fest back in 2013. I've always thought they were a good band—I wrote a strong review of their last release Demonocracy, finding it to be a solid offering in the technical death metal genre. This album is better, though. Sure, I know that not everything JFAC has done has been awesome, but this album seems fresh in ways that the last release did not. The music has a bit more nuance, the technical passages seem tighter, and the vocals sound better. The pig squeals are gone and, frankly, I won't miss them. I have to give particular attention to the guitars. They sound terrific. I was especially impressed with "The Stone Cross" but there are other places on this release where the guitars dominate the scene, giving the music an additional edge.

The bass passages on this release are also amazing. Bass players should love this album, if only because the low end is represented loudly and boldly. I really liked the outro on "Eating the Words of God," but that is only the beginning of the album. Keep listening, bass players and bass fans. There's plenty more where that came from.

I could go on, but the best idea is to check out the new JFAC album. Whether it's sweet or bitter will depend on the listener. For me, it's as good as many of us hoped.

Track Listing:
1. Eating the Visions of God
2. Sun of Nihility
3. The Stone Cross
4. The Synthetic Sea
5. A Global Shift
6. The Celestial Antidote
7. Encircled by Mirrors
8. Buried Monuments
9. Worming Nightfall

Added: November 15th 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
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Language: english

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