As the mainstream spotlight continues to grow wider upon the hardcore and metal scenes, several bands who started turning heads in the last decade are seeing quite a bit of renewed interest and attention. Tour packages are continuing to sell out across the country in bigger rooms and on bigger stages than ever before. Giant festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza are giving Knocked Loose and Lorna Shore major timeslots. There’s arguably never been a better time to play high energy heavy music, and Philadelphia band Jesus Piece have seemingly picked that perfect time to drop their insane sophomore effort …So Unknown, and goddamn if they’re going to squander that opportunity. The follow up to 2018’s acclaimed debut Only Self finds them in top form, hitting with an urgency and intensity that eclipses their previous efforts tenfold. Already one of the best metallic hardcore bands of the current era, this record doesn’t just raise the bar, it reinforces it.
Standing at 10 songs and right under 28 minutes in length, …So Unknown is completely devoid of filler, with not a single song overstaying it’s welcome. From the savage opening salvo “In Constraints” forward, Jesus Piece provide a relentless assault on the senses, successfully capturing the frantic and sledgehammer-heavy feeling of their live performances into a record that remains consistently engaging and exciting from beginning to end. Shades of metallic hardcore’s past and present can be found here, from the complex mathcore rhythms of Candiria and the skull crushing intensity of Turmoil to the boundary pushing heaviness of the pre nu metal leaning output of Code Orange and larger than life chaos of Knocked Loose.
When all is said and done however, the songwriting deployed here puts Jesus Piece in their own league entirely. While unbelievably heavy and unrelenting, there’s also a catchiness and focus here that many heavier bands sometimes lack that makes each song stand out, whether it’s the just over two-minute blasts of white knuckle intensity or the lengthier songs that bring an underlying dissonance and melody into the mix. It’s all designed to stay with you and bury itself into your psyche with each repeat listen, and that’s exactly what it does.
From a production standpoint, Jesus Piece have never sounded closer to their blistering live performances than they do on this new record. Co-Produced and Mixed by Randy LeBoeuf, who’s standout production and mixing work can be found on newer records from The Acacia Strain and Every Time I Die among others, …So Unknown consistently sounds huge at every moment, hitting with a fervor that really captures just why the band can play with pretty much any one of their peers and steal the show. It’s not necessarily easy to translate the feeling of chaos and fun that seeing a hardcore/metal band can bring, and all involved with the recording of this album should be proud of what they’ve accomplished here. That this is easily the band’s most engaging set of songs to date just adds fuel to the fire, and leaves listeners feeling like this might in fact be a watershed moment for the genre at large.
Bottom Line: …So Unknown could easily be titled The Shape Of Metalcore To Come and it wouldn’t be an inaccurate assessment. This record raises the bar for metallic hardcore in the current era, paying tribute to classic records while streamrolling forward with an absolutely relentless attack that genuinely moves the needle forward for the genre at large. It stands tall as the band’s finest release to date and though time will tell, upon listening to it countless times I firmly feel that it’s a modern classic. An absolutely essential listen to any fan of hardcore and metal music.
30 comments
Post CommentBig disappointment. The EP is still the best stuff they've released.
Album is hard as f*ck. Softies in these comments.
Shit. No way this is a f*cking 9 - you gave it a 9 because of the black dude. The only black dude this genre needs is Carley Coma, the rest are a bullshit diversity push.
"Shit. No way this is a f*cking 9 - you gave it a 9 because of the black dude. The only black dude this genre needs is Carley Coma, the rest are a bullshit diversity push" Can't imagine how baby shit soft of a human being you have to be to type that out and hit send, even anonymously lmao. f*ckin loser lmao
"Can't imagine how baby shit soft of a human being you have to be to type that out and hit send, even anonymously lmao. f*ckin loser lmao" Loot some stores over it cry baby. 😂
"Shit. No way this is a f*cking 9 - you gave it a 9 because of the black dude. The only black dude this genre needs is Carley Coma, the rest are a bullshit diversity push" Can't imagine how baby shit soft of a human being you have to be to type that out and hit send, even anonymously lmao. f*ckin loser lmao +1
Is he wrong tho? Eliot also gave Zulu a 9 and tbat album is also boring af
"Loot some stores over it cry baby. 😂" Only if you promise to keep licking the shit off of every single authoritarian boot that crosses your sight. Ah shit, looks like I've got a million stores to loot later, gonna be busy.
Definitely a metal album for sure. The album is pretty run of the mill for that flavor of what some people are calling "metallic hardcore," but with more death metal vocals. I mean, if Jesus Piece wants to tour with Lamb of God or Kreator they are on the right track, but as far as hardcore goes, they left that far behind. I bet their lyrics are as metal up your ass than anything a real hardcore band would write about. This review is really a bunch of fluff and sucking up to the band by tye author rather than actually describing what the album sounds like. I am not sure if the author could make themselves sound more of a fanboi as opposed to someone writing an actual review. "Metallic hardcore" is pretty much the closest we get to any description of how the album actually sounds, so if you haven't listened to the album yet and were curious about it, you more than likely have no idea from this article. Time to get real dude
"Only if you promise to keep licking the shit off of every single authoritarian boot that crosses your sight. Ah shit, looks like I've got a million stores to loot later, gonna be busy. " ^Still crying.
Is he wrong tho? Eliot also gave Zulu a 9 and tbat album is also boring af No, he's not. I noticed the same thing. It's not just on this site either. It's healthy to have more diversity at the frontline of what's happening in music. However, with some of these album reviews, they're written with prescription political view lenses. These reviews are coming with bonus points off top because JP has a black vocalist, and Zulu is an all black band. I'm not discrediting them, their talents, or their music, but no one can soundly say that if these bands were all white they'de be getting 9's, if they would even be getting reviewed at all.
'boundary pushing heaviness of the pre nu metal leaning output of Code Orange' I'm afraid you don't understand what nu-metal is. CO doesn't cite any nu-metal bands as influences, and the guitar work on Underneath was nothing like nu-metal. Even Out for Blood, as awful Zombie influenced as it was, had a long guitar solo, anathema to nu-metal. Also if CO had released this Jesus Piece album you'd give it a 7, even though half of it directly borrows from 2017's Forever.
White guys who say acab and can't bench bodyweight are stoked
Jesus Piece "…So Unknown" Lambgoat comment section Rating: 6 Standard issue LG comments. Mostly anonymous doofuses arguing that the rating was bullshit. Nothing really insightful or boundary pushing. The most entertaining part was when that dingus got called out for for bitching about the score being about the black guy and then kept trying to Pee-Wee Herman his whining back to everyone who said he was being a dingus. I am giving it an entire extra point because no one has made a "goo" joke yet. That shit is tired, so good restraint everybody. Keep it up!
Album is about as boring and uninspired as "heavy" or metalcore can get. Far from a 9. More like a 5. Competently played heavy but boring.
This type of music has had almost no progression for like 30 years at this point. I guess this is a nine if you're new to heavy music but this sounds like a million other heavy but flat and one note hardcore records
I don't understand the hype behind this band. It sounds painfully generic to me.
Run of the mill metalcore if ive ever heard it. Glad they dont do the good cop bad cop thing. Other than that this shit is stale.
this is a 6 at best. everything on this record youve heard before 10 times over. the gimmick of abrupt tempo changes every 30 seconds is played our by the end of the second song
white 33 year olds who still in their teen edgelord ACAB phase are spinning this shit non stop!!
Welp they are heavy, but totally unmemorable