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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Where Godflesh were perhaps the ultimate urban band (more so than any rotten punk band), Jesu are at least one of the ultimate rural, pastoral bands. Listen to this album on headphones while watching the sun rise, and I swear to God, you will never feel more in awe of nature; how beautiful and how terrible it is. No small achievement.
Where Swans are occasionally too arch and stagey, and Neurosis too introverted, Justin Broadrick makes this kind of thing accessible as well as impossibly dense. The mudslide of guitar here recalls My Bloody Valentine, but more so. In fact, Kevin Shields would quail at the maelstrom at some points, especially the most Godflesh-like song, 'Man/Woman', wherein a swarm of guttural voices from some godawful hovering abyss hector some poor person about being "faceless, dead-eyed". (My guess is the target is a record company drone who stiffed Godflesh back in 2001.)
'Sun Day' and especially 'Tired Of Me' are among the saddest songs I've ever heard, but they don't seem depressed as much as sheerly exhausted. Listening to them recalls Jonathan Selzer (of Terrorizer magazine)'s oft-reiterated claim that only through absolute surrender can you find absolution, and Broadrick seems readier to do this than ever before. Consequently, the darkness is always tinged with a ray of hope, a faith that once one finally transcends the self - the 'Flesh? - one will attain some kind of peace. My Bloody Valentine never had this kind of emotional impact, either.
The sequencing is a bit out of whack - the weakest songs are the opening and closing ones, which really ought to be the strongest, if you think about it - but that's a distinctly minor nitpick. And 8 songs stretched over 74 minutes is a bit...too much. But that's always been a Broadrick thang.
Nevertheless, this is highly recommended, especially if you think emotional heavy music is something confined only to (gag) Life Of Agony, Coheed And Cambria, and their self-pitying ilk. This crushes any and all 'emo' effortlessly. Nice one (again), Jus.
Where Swans are occasionally too arch and stagey, and Neurosis too introverted, Justin Broadrick makes this kind of thing accessible as well as impossibly dense. The mudslide of guitar here recalls My Bloody Valentine, but more so. In fact, Kevin Shields would quail at the maelstrom at some points, especially the most Godflesh-like song, 'Man/Woman', wherein a swarm of guttural voices from some godawful hovering abyss hector some poor person about being "faceless, dead-eyed". (My guess is the target is a record company drone who stiffed Godflesh back in 2001.)
'Sun Day' and especially 'Tired Of Me' are among the saddest songs I've ever heard, but they don't seem depressed as much as sheerly exhausted. Listening to them recalls Jonathan Selzer (of Terrorizer magazine)'s oft-reiterated claim that only through absolute surrender can you find absolution, and Broadrick seems readier to do this than ever before. Consequently, the darkness is always tinged with a ray of hope, a faith that once one finally transcends the self - the 'Flesh? - one will attain some kind of peace. My Bloody Valentine never had this kind of emotional impact, either.
The sequencing is a bit out of whack - the weakest songs are the opening and closing ones, which really ought to be the strongest, if you think about it - but that's a distinctly minor nitpick. And 8 songs stretched over 74 minutes is a bit...too much. But that's always been a Broadrick thang.
Nevertheless, this is highly recommended, especially if you think emotional heavy music is something confined only to (gag) Life Of Agony, Coheed And Cambria, and their self-pitying ilk. This crushes any and all 'emo' effortlessly. Nice one (again), Jus.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Jesu are something of a musical enigma; as with the debut 'Heartache' ep, the sound (barely)contained on this plastic, mass produced disc tries to pass itself off as just a good metal record, with its doomy rumblings and skull crushing, dissonant intros. However, whilst this is all well and good, Jesu are something a little more special than that. They are actually quite astonishing in their provocation of emotion - speaking as a lifelong metal fan, i can still safely say that I cannot recall having been so moved by a record that most would term metal. The crushing doom of the distorted guitars is a backdrop for gorgeous, despondant and utterly hypnotic vocal and guitar harmonies, JK Broadricks frail, resigned voice transmitting a very human beauty across the atonal void of his guitars. Whilst we have heard hints of this brilliance in Cult of Luna's 'Salvation', and its ilk, never has the simultaneous interplay between fragility and bruised but ferocious noise been so mesemerising, so directly corresponding to particular emotions. Because of its sheer emotional honesty and the depths of inner horror it suggests, 'jesu' is not an easy record to get through, despite how hypnotic it is. It may even make you cry. But underneath all the sound and fury is an intelligence, honesty and beauty that will stay with those brave enough to tackle this album for a long time to come. Its stayed with me, anyway.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is a continuation of some of the themes Justin Broadrick explored with Godflesh to their logical conclusion. Although shorter than the "songs" appearing on the Heartache ep, tracks on Jesu still hang in at around 8-10 minutes creating hypnotic and melancholy atmospheres, that extend from some of my favourite Godflesh moments. Although beautiful and ambient, this is not too say that this album is not punishing and emotionally demanding. Rythmically quite slow and repetetive, topped over with hard bass lines and continuosly shifting guitar patterns drenched in well executed feedback, this is very expressive music that demonstrates Broadricks obvious talent for composition. Musical reference points are definitely any other work by Broadrick, Hydrahead Records (Isis, Pelican), Neurosis, and Swans. My only complaint would be that the restrained vocals are occaisionally a bit wobbly, but it all adds to the charm of this excellent debut album. I'll be looking forward to the next...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Album
I loved this album as soon as i heard the first track, some times you have to play some albums a few times before you like them. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Stu o
Washes Over Me.
Broadrick, Jesu's creator, is a man of many talents. A lot of the influence behind this band is seemingly taken from his previous project, the legendary Godflesh. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2010 by S. Davitt
An underappreciated epic
jesu's 'Jesu' is an atmospheric monster of an album, easily one of the best JK Broadrick albums we've ever had the good fortune of receiving. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2009 by Mick Yerman
Good songs, but repetitive album
Rather surprisingly, despite being a long time Godflesh fan and having been blown away by Jesu's debut Heart Ache EP, I must admit that I found Jesu's debut full-length album to be... Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2005 by Jane Aland
Absolutely beautiful
This is a 5 star CD. It's absolutely fantastic, mindblowingly beautiful, epic in scope, intensely emotional... Read more
Published on 19 May 2005 by Mr. A. Anson
disappointed
I can only say what i think from a personal point of view, but this album is such a let down! It never kicks off, its like the whole album (and its a pretty long album at that)... Read more
Published on 4 April 2005 by M. Brierley
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