Shoegazer metal.

Oh yeah. It exists. It’s pretty much the best thing that happened to me last year.

I’m on a constant and never-ending mission to soundtrack my own life. Even if you won’t admit it, I’m pretty sure you do it, too. Our lives have eras - eras dictated by events, break ups, moods, cities, health, drugs, friends, mistakes, whatever. You know what I mean. If you’re like me, you make it your business to score your “film” with the appropriate soundtrack. You seek out what you need; it’s an art form. Haven’t you ever watched a movie with shit for a soundtrack? It ruins everything. If I’m going to live, and apparently I am, then I’m at least going to be listening to sweet music.

My coherency may be breaking down now, but my point is: Jesu’s (pronounced “yayzu”) Silver EP and the previous self-titled Jesu carried me through last year. It’s just what I wanted to hear. It was my mood put into melodies. Just so you know - last year sucked for me. The hardest and most emotional year of my life. Loss, addiction, divorce, bankruptcy, broken heart, medication, repossession, poor health, the works. (I’m better now, thanks for asking.) And I couldn’t even buy any motherfucking records nearly all year. It was super lame. I can’t even explain it, but I can tell you that shoegazer metal is the auditory epitome of it all. But in a good way, because I love this band so much.

I’ve always been a big fan of drone and shoegaze. I like to lie on the floor and turn that shit up, put my ear next to the speaker, and drift. I want the key more minor, I want that note dragged out for 5 minutes, I want muffled lyrics, I want the saddest synth in the world, I want a wall of sound. I want some sludgy drone doom. Jesu has it all, plus more stuff I can’t find any descriptors for. There is just something highly cathartic to me about this type of music. It’s not that it’s “depressing” or “glum” or “dark” - I despise it when bands are labelled so simply. Nothing is that simple. Jesu is emotional and loud; it’s a perfect blend of shoegaze with harder elements. It’s like your metalhead neighbor who cries every time he watches The Wizard of Oz. It’s just right.

Justin Broadrick is the key member of the band and also an ex-member of Godflesh (oh how I love metal band names…), a group that definitely pioneered the industrial metal movement of the late 80s. Those elements are still there in Jesu’s music, but things are much more layered, far more drone, and for me, much more emotional than Godflesh. If you like Mogwai, then you’ll love Jesu. Jesu is far heavier, but that same mood is consistent between them. I once stated that listening to Jesu is like sludging through sludge wearing sludge shoes to buy a bottle of sludge to drink. But mmm, sludge is tasty. You should probably draw the blinds and listen to Conqueror right now.

And hey, maybe you’ll get lucky. Jesu is supposed to be touring with Isis right now, but apparently they are having trouble with their work visas and won’t be let into the country. I would have seen them play this upcoming Thursday. Maybe they’ll be identified as non-terrorists by the time they make it to your city, and you’ll have the honor of seeing them. Lame.

Release Date: February 20, 2007.
Label: Hydra Head Records

Rating: 9/10. They rock.

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