Jesu – Opiate Sun EP

For those of us who like our rhythms slooooooow, our guitars heavy, and our vocals melodic, Jesu comes through on Opiate Sun. Jesu is the moniker of former grindcore guitar and vocal mechanic Justin Broderick (former guitarist of Napalm Death and founder/vocalist/guitarist of Godflesh), and rabid fans of his previous projects or grindcore at large likely have an ambivalent relationship with Broderick’s output as Jesu.

On Opiate Sun, much like the rest of Jesu’s releases, the guitar textures are dense, plodding, and influenced as much or more by My Bloody Valentine and their ilk as any metal band plucked from the past three and a half decades. None of the speed-metal solos or blastbeats of Napalm Death. The sound has become Jesu’s trademark – simple guitar melodies flowing beneath thick, distorted power chords. Thirty seconds into “Losing Streak” we enter the soupy murk and don’t emerge for the EP’s 25 minutes.

Riding above it all are Broderick’s morose two-part harmony vocals – not a trace of the throat-shredding of Godflesh. In true shoegaze fashion, they integrate into the texture of the songs rather than draw attention to themselves. They often disappear altogether to make room for the walls of guitars; the last two or so minutes of “Deflated” and the bulk of “Morning Light” are spent in reverent six-string veneration.

Broderick does what he does well, but Opiate Sun has little range. Unlike some of Jesu’s other records, Opiate Sun doesn’t make use of any instrumentation beyond guitar/bass/drums. No programmed drums, no electronics, no nuthin’. The stripped-down approach usually serves the music well, but even over the short span of the EP begins to sound too uniform. If the album were a color, it would be grey all the way through. Opiate Sun delivers what Jesu is known for, but little else.

Tagged as: Metal, UK

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