Gods I See You Through Glass
Hand of Hope Records HOH007-2 June 14th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
The current and former members of Zao are always upon us in one form or another. Whether its Brett Detar with The Juliana Theory, Shawn Jonas with Symphony in Peril, or Jesse Smith and Rob Horner with Gods, it seems no one is content to completely walk away from musical endeavors. I See You Through Glass is the bands thirty-minute debut on Hand of Hope Records, and said group steal traits of Through the Eyes of Katelyn (Jesse Smiths former one-man band), Deftones, and Glassjaw in an attempt to create the perfect rock record. However, Godss debut is just too uneven and mismatched to garner much more than a pat on the back and a Nice try kid, reply.
I cant deny the infectiousness of the opener If the Bet is Love I Fold and the closer I See You Through Glass. Both of the aforementioned feature great riffs and energetic vocalizations courtesy of Smith (vox, drums, rhythm guitars). Unfortunately, most other tunes cant compete with the bookends. The Devils Tears is where the influence of Deftones manifests itself most obviously. Theoretically speaking, if I have a hankering for Deftones, Ill just plop one of their albums in my CD player, which means I wont be reaching for I See You Through Glass if I feel like listening to the former. There are all kinds of effects traipsing about on the album, says Love is a Blister, while Ephedra is slightly more organic though both are in love with distortion. And the keyboards are most noticeable on Night of the Strawberry Ghost, but lay lower on other compositions.
In my humble opinion, projects by current/former members of Zao are purely hit and miss. Gods, as of now, is a miss. But I See You Through Glass does indeed hint at better things to follow, and I can only hope that that conjecture comes to fruition. Overall, the record has a couple magnificent opuses, a couple great ones, a couple goods ones, and a few that are, well, uninteresting.
7/10
Official Gods Website
Official Hand of Hope Records Website
Hand of Hope Records HOH007-2 June 14th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
The current and former members of Zao are always upon us in one form or another. Whether its Brett Detar with The Juliana Theory, Shawn Jonas with Symphony in Peril, or Jesse Smith and Rob Horner with Gods, it seems no one is content to completely walk away from musical endeavors. I See You Through Glass is the bands thirty-minute debut on Hand of Hope Records, and said group steal traits of Through the Eyes of Katelyn (Jesse Smiths former one-man band), Deftones, and Glassjaw in an attempt to create the perfect rock record. However, Godss debut is just too uneven and mismatched to garner much more than a pat on the back and a Nice try kid, reply.
I cant deny the infectiousness of the opener If the Bet is Love I Fold and the closer I See You Through Glass. Both of the aforementioned feature great riffs and energetic vocalizations courtesy of Smith (vox, drums, rhythm guitars). Unfortunately, most other tunes cant compete with the bookends. The Devils Tears is where the influence of Deftones manifests itself most obviously. Theoretically speaking, if I have a hankering for Deftones, Ill just plop one of their albums in my CD player, which means I wont be reaching for I See You Through Glass if I feel like listening to the former. There are all kinds of effects traipsing about on the album, says Love is a Blister, while Ephedra is slightly more organic though both are in love with distortion. And the keyboards are most noticeable on Night of the Strawberry Ghost, but lay lower on other compositions.
In my humble opinion, projects by current/former members of Zao are purely hit and miss. Gods, as of now, is a miss. But I See You Through Glass does indeed hint at better things to follow, and I can only hope that that conjecture comes to fruition. Overall, the record has a couple magnificent opuses, a couple great ones, a couple goods ones, and a few that are, well, uninteresting.
7/10
Official Gods Website
Official Hand of Hope Records Website
