Jinjer - Micro - Album Review - Modern Progressive Metalcore from Donetsk, Ukraine
Favourites:
Song - Ape
Deep cut - Perennial
Lyric - “what a shame to wear the name of a human being” - Ape
If you like - Mastodon, Gojira, Animals As Leaders
Jinjer’s new studio effort, an EP entitled “Micro” - our first anticipated release of 2019 - came out today, and I already have two new favourite songs by them with “Ape” and “Dreadful Moments.” They have developed since 2018’s “Cloud Factory” in the sense that they’re positively experimenting with focusing more on different techniques. “Micro” is a lot more progressive and djent in a good sense, the band really pulled it together a lot more and made some incredibly tight, heavy, and groovy music. What has stayed the same is Tatiana Shmayluk’s uniquely creepy melodies in her clean vocals.
“Ape” is an insanely progressive example of the talent that exists in that band. The drumming gives me a headache imagining what the sheet music would look like, yet I am so grateful for the lengths that Vladislav Ulasevich took because I have never jammed out to drums so fucking hard in a song in my life. That off-beat kind of double bass just hits me so hard, and the way he plays makes it seems like he really is utilizing the fuck out of the setup he’s got for this song.
Tracklist:
1. Ape
2. Dreadful Moments
3. Teacher, Teacher!
4. Perennial
5. Micro
Artwork [Original Artwork] – Riley Schmitz
Artwork, Design Concept – Oleg Rooz
Band – Eugene Abdukhanov,
Roman Ibramkhalilov,
Tatiana Shmayluk,
Vlad Ulasevich
Producer – Jinjer, Max Morton
Recorded By, Mixed By, Mastered By – Max Morton
Written-By, Performer – Jinjer
“Dreadful Moments” really shows off the progressive nature of the band, and surprisingly a lot more djent than usual. The transitions are really impressive, as the tempo changes, yet they’re still able to keep the intensity and groove together.
The album does lose a bit of pace with “Teacher, Teacher!” but they quickly come back on track, but that’s not unlike Jinjer and it is something that you can appreciate about them. They’re not a “hit-making machine” (although they do make them) but they strive to make every song something incredible, unique, and different from the previous track, especially considering the short instrumental - “Micro” - that needs of the 20 minute run. 2019 is off to a fantastic start!
Listen to Metalhead Community's Monsters of Metal Underground playlist on Spotify
