To be able to say that I am about to write a review for a new Job for a Cowboy album is both something that I never thought I would get to say and also a huge achievement for me. For a band that, at first ironically and then very rapidly unironically, means so much to me to release a new album after almost ten years of inactivity is an incredible thing all by itself, but for Moon Healer to be what appears to be the comeback album of the century makes it so much sweeter, both for me and for the fellas behind the music.
If all you know about Job for a Cowboy is the Doom EP, then you both know a lot about the band and nothing at all. Yes, that one release single-handedly put both JFAC and deathcore as a whole (and MySpace too) on the map, and without it, JFAC might not be nearly as revered as they are today, but if you stopped listening after that, you missed quite a lot. From the straight-ahead death metal of Genesis and beyond to the progressive metal introduced on 2014’s Sun Eater, the band’s last release until now, Job for a Cowboy has been on a periodic cycle of completely reinventing themselves, and Sun Eater seemed like a brand new highlight in a discography full of plenty of highlights. But then…radio silence. For almost ten years, simultaneous speculation about breakups and new music being just around the corner ran amok, but with no real confirmation from the Glendale, AZ crew until August of last year, when “The Agony Seeping Storm” dropped. One listen to that track and all doubts were completely erased. Job for a Cowboy are firmly back, and they haven’t missed a single step.
Consistency has always been the name of the game when it comes to Job for a Cowboy. While they have no less than three times in their tenure reinvented their sound, the results have never been less than stellar. Genesis saw the abandonment of most, if not all, of the deathcore sounds that they pioneered (RIP, pig squeals). Demonocracy, and to a much larger extent Sun Eater, saw the introduction of more progressive songwriting and instrumental foci. The band, however, has never put out a bummer of an album, and Moon Healer is no exception. It feels very much like a culmination of everything the band has ever done and a step forward all at the same time. Opener “Beyond the Chemical Doorway” picks up exactly where Sun Eater left off, with a wide open, arpeggiated riff backed up by the monstrous and inimitable playing of virtuoso and all-around-nice-guy Nick Schendzielos, whose indelible mark on this album propels it from “great” to “AOTY territory.” I mean, whatever he is doing at the tail end of “Etched in Oblivion” is gonna be talked about for years to come. Still, while I could go on and on and on about how much Nick brings to the table on Moon Healer, the wonderful thing about this album is that it’s a team effort. Jonny Davy’s vocals have changed and evolved over the years, but his gut churning delivery hasn’t lost an ounce of bite and ferocity. Tony Sannicandro and Al Glassman still make up one of the most impressive guitar duos in metal, especially when Glassman steps up to the plate to take a blistering solo. And while JFAC have been without a permanent drummer for some time, Navene Koperweis handles the skins on this recording and melds seamlessly with everyone else. In short, Moon Healer is an absolute clinic on every instrument, but it also becomes something greater than the sum of its parts. There is big “it’s been a decade since we’ve released anything” energy here, and you feel how much joy there is in bringing this album to life.
No punches are pulled here. No cards are left in hand, no tricks up anyone’s sleeves. Moon Healer is Job for a Cowboy proving to the haters, if there even are any left, that they are more than a one-trick pony, that they have always deserved a place in the pantheon of metal greats, and that those who have believed in them since the beginning have not had their faith misplaced. It’s good to have you back, fellas. Please don’t let another decade go by before we get any more music, because who even knows where it’s going to go after this.
— Ian
Moon Healer will be available February 23 on Metal Blade Records. For more information on Job for a Cowboy, visit their Facebook page.
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