The first essential album of 2007.
Jesu - Conqueror
[4.5/5] In abandoning the industrial-strength guitar/cock hammering contest of Godflesh-the same one that spawned Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory and
Psalm 69-era Ministry-for the dreamy, pastoral narco-haze that envelops all of Jesu's best material (see last year's pretty-much-perfect
Silver EP) Justin Broadrick is creating the finest music of his career. Which is saying a lot for the man who, in addition to Godflesh, brought us Techno Animal, Head Of David, Final and Curse Of The Golden Vampire-that is,
after he formed and quickly deserted Napalm Death. As it turns out, necessity really
is the mother of invention: Broadrick's well-documented nervous breakdown-the one that ended Godflesh in 2002-facilitated his artistic rebirth. Jesu's 2005 self-titled debut clung to the ghostlike remainder of Broadrick's heavier-than-thou Godflesh persona, but by
Silver it had vanished into the same nebulous mist that enshrouded the dead tree pictured on the record's cover. With
Conqueror, Broadrick has assumed the role of the titular signifier, dominating a form of his own creation that renders his previous body of work mere contextualization in a portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-young-man type of way. Music journalists tend to apply the word "hypnotic" liberally these days, but
Conqueror's lush atmospheric synth hues, kaleidoscopic ambience and dazzling melodic guitar heaviness live up to the billing without simultaneously boring the shit out of you. The king is dead, all right. Long live the king.
(HYDRA HEAD) J. Bennett
ROCKS LIKE:
Jesu's
Silver
Boards Of Canada's
Geogaddi
My Bloody Valentine's
Loveless
Official Website: http://www.hydrahead.com
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