Jaylan "Stress" CD
[Superhero]
Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Alright, keep reading, because it's ramblin' time. Most people would think I'm insane for giving this thing a 7/10, but motherfucker... these Germans have some hot shit going on here. I can tell you right now that a hell of a lot of people would listen to this EP and just laugh it off as terrible within five minutes (no offense to the band). But seriously, listening to this closely, even my finicky ears can see past the shortcomings to witness a goldmine of potential just waiting to be developed here. There's a lot of work to be done, but... I truly hope the band can stick it out and get where they ought to be, because I'm a big fan of these jams. What we have here are a handful of tracks that sort of sound like a fucked up blend of every single band on the first two "East Coast Assault" compilations mixed with a major influence from the Harley Flanagan fronted incarnations of the Cro-Mags, as well as Crown of Thornz and such, so the end result is a strangely melodic and at times rocked out take on chugga styled metallic hardcore with vocals sung/shouted/yelled entirely in German. Expect plenty of chunky power chords, lots of dissonant midpaced melodies, and a generous dose of singing that falls within a bit of a limited range, at times offering a scarce few hop-hop influenced vocal patterns/attitudes. There are two key problems: The recording and the vocals. After the first track the frontman seems to warm up a little (it's mainly the first couple of lines in "Teufel in Mir" that are pretty painful), so his delivery's not as shaky, but he needs to work a little more to really nail his performance. Of course, the German language is an oddly flowing entity in and of itself, so all things considered the dude does fairly well at keeping his vocal arrangements flowing and moving in line with the music, so... he's alright as is. And I can actually overlook the faults in the recording because it sounds dated back to the time period that seems to be most influencing their sound (think various forms of 1993 - 1998 east coast metallic hardcore), but the guitars have a distant sheen holding back their distortion, and elements of the rhythm section can get lost in the shuffle. The vocals are also a touch too loud at times, which also draws attention to some of the flaws, but it's really just a matter of the entire EP being far too raw for as talented a band these cat are as writers. I'm actually way into the music as well as the style that the vocals are shooting for, so... fuck, man... this band could be god damn amazing. "Es Reicht Nicht" is catchy as hell (but not in a typical manner) and tosses in some totally unexpected arpeggios against softer singing that blends in a little more with the instrumentation, "Effekt" is somewhat more straightforward and mixes creatively churning picking patterns with straight up European metalcore runs, and "Stress" is stripped down more than the others for a chugga driven core that still has melodic accents and interesting rhythmic surges (the backing shouts are a little rough though, so they might want to watch out for that in the future). Oddly enough, the last and longest track is a full blown hip-hop number with some guest vocal contributions, and it's actually quite convincing on all levels, from the beats and the verses to the actual arrangement of the song. Not bad - and some of the music even hints at that weird Middle Eastern edge of the "Intro" track. Who would've thought? The layout looks solid and uses some manipulated photos of cityscapes with quality band shots and a little bit of a graffiti edge, and I'm actually digging the aesthetic. Of course, since the vocals are in German I have no idea what they're talking about, but I'd definitely be curious to know. Translated titles like "Devil in Me" and of course the title track suggest personal content, and that's what I'd wager awaits. Someone please hit these guys up with a solid recording budget, because if they can get those vocals in check I'll be psyched. Hell, if they could get Harley Flanagan himself to do some guest vocals I'd shit myself, because this dude sounds almost exactly like him! Seriously, if anyone from the band is reading this please keep me posted on your future efforts, 'cause I don't want to miss out! (7/10)
Running time - 18:51, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: Es Reicht Nicht, Effekt, Stress]
Superhero Records - http://www.superherorecords.com

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