 
Fronting Hatebreed and Kingdom of Sorrow, Jamey
Jasta has made a massive impact in the world of
metal; so one can wonder with all the credentials
at hand, what could Jasta going to bring to the
table with a solo record? Obviously with the back
catalogue including the brutality of Hatebreed
and the old school heavy metal vibe from Kingdom
of Sorrow the obvious choice would be some brand
of aggressive metal, which is it but the difference
is that there’s clean vocals and melody
alongside the chaos, it’s almost a pure
combination between Kingdom of Sorrow and Hatebreed.
alongside the great combination of styles there
are a variety of very special guests featuring
on this album; Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Tim
Lambesis (As I Lay Dying), Phil Labonte (All That
Remains), Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society) Mike
Vallely (Revolution Mother) and Mark Morton (Lamb
of God).
In some of the songs we are shown a different
side to the aggression that we’re used to
hearing in Jasta’s bands which is a more
sinister vibe as opposed to straight up anger
as a slight change of pace. Now because most of
Jasta’s fan base is in Hatebreed if the
material was too different there would be much
less interest and hype around the release and
a sense of disappointment amongst fan’s
so thus far he’s done well retaining his
unique type of vocals and not drastically changing
the musical styles. “Walk That Path Alone”
is a beasty way to set this album off; fast paced,
ear blistering aggression with a slight electronic
distortion in the vocals. Following the explosive
opening track is “Mourn The Illusion”
which is much different; kicks off with quick
chunky riffs but slows right down for the choruses
which include light full chord sequences overlaid
with clean vocals, strangely addictive considering
the content of the rest of the track being quite
heavy.
The heaviest tracks on the album feature the guests;
“Enslaved, Dead or Depraved” features
Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe providing guest
vocals that on this track are the most sinister
and aggressive vocals I have ever heard him produce
in his career, exactly the same goes for “With
a Resounding Voice” with the vocals of Tim
Lambesis’s, obviously the production on
this record is fantastic to create these sounds.
It was a wise decision from Jasta to pick voices
that really compliment his own to give a much
richer and fuller sound. Apart from one, which
is Phil Labonte from All That Remains; the quality
of his vocals here compared to with other projects
containing his input are quite poor, no metal
screaming at all, more a really whiney clean singing
voice which after such a great deal of excitement
for me surrounding his contribution was quite
a disappointment.
The guitarist contributors Zakk Wylde and Mark
Morton do a very respectable job on their part
adding their distinctive stamp on the tracks;
the solos from Zakk in “The Fearless Must
Endure” are an added treat in an album that
has been lacking in the guitar solo department,
Mark Morton’s presence is also heavily felt
during “Death Bestowed” due to his
guitar solo and the added groove throughout the
track.
So coming to the end of the album having listened
to it apparently 6 times according to my Last.fm
from beginning to end, I can safely say that the
album is fantastic! Normally when people start
solo careers they produce music that is so different
to that which has brought them critical acclaim
that the fans can’t get into it as comparisons
will always be made regardless if the musician
has done a good job. Jasta took no gambles and
instead used the template of what he would normally
do and played around with it to make it interesting,
it is not a complete rip off of either of his
bands nor is it stale after so many Hatebreed
albums.
5/5
Review by James Webb
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