Job for a Cowboy - Genesis

circus_brimstone

Forest: Sold Out
Jul 5, 2003
5,154
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Indiana
Job for a Cowboy – Genesis
Metal Blade Records – May 15, 2007
By Jason Jordan

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Largely known as yet another MySpace phenomenon, Arizona’s ill-titled Job for a Cowboy broke into the metal scene with 2005’s Doom EP, which set the stage for this year’s Genesis. While the pig growls and breakdowns are gone, Genesis is a 31-minute slice of serviceable, if forgettable, death metal that is simply underwhelming, especially in light of recent, likeminded releases.

All name-related jokes aside, Job for a Cowboy are proficient musicians, but the songs themselves are generic, and thus difficult to recall. Sure, ‘Bearing the Serpents Lamb’ sprints out of the gate in an aggressive manner, as do ‘Reduced to Mere Filth’ and ‘Altered from Catechization,’ yet the lot of them don’t have enough personality to warrant repeated listens. Except for ambient interludes ‘Upheaval’ and ‘Blasphemy’ – which, if excluded from the time, brings Genesis down to less than 28 minutes – JfaC play incredibly fast a la Beneath the Massacre. Or, as ‘The Divine Falsehood’ and ‘Coalescing Prophecy’ prove, they slow down the respective tempos to a point that it steals focus away from the tune itself, which could be a result of odd song placement. Still, as a whole, Genesis elapses too fast to remember much of anything about it, but to be fair, it’s not as if there are numerous, distinguishing characteristics in the first place.

Honestly, I can’t justify spending money on Genesis because it’s merely competent when optimally it should be something special. Great album gets overlooked enough, so skip this in favor of one.

Official Job for a Cowboy Website
Official Metal Blade Records Website
 
The real question is, is their job like ol' west cowboys, or "brokeback mountain" cowboys... :D
 
Saw them live the other night and I was skeptical about going, given the average quality of their releases, but they but on an awesome show. And, if what I am told is correct, none of them are over 20, which is quite incredible, the drumming was outstanding and the kids on my age, 19! So maybe the quality of their studio releases will begin to measure up to their live performances.
 
It doesn't work that way... If you played an audio bootleg back, it wouldn't even be as cool as being at a concert. You can't recreate something like that. :)