Well, this is certainly unexpected. In fact, this was basically a giant kick to my balls. I remember a couple years or so back, I repeatedly got friend requests from Job for a Cowboy over MySpace. I gave the music from their EP Doom a listen and it was extremely piss-poor, trendy deathcore crap. So I rejected the friend request every time they sent me one.

Fast forward a bit and these guys in Job for a Cowboy are instantly getting referenced all over by the Hot Topic band wagon. Go go MySpace exposure and street teaming. Naturally the rest of the metal world laughs at the act and devises derogatory plays on their name (i.e. Handjob for a Cowboy, etc.), but they nevertheless get signed and prepare for work on their full length, Genesis.

Having sat here and listened to Genesis through and through, I must say it’s different. Strike that: it’s tremendously different. Strike that again: this thing is a motherfucking completely different beast altogether. I was expecting something more akin to Despised Icon’s more retarded moments or the piss-poor vocal delivery of Suicide Silence, complete with the random, directionless guttural squeals and retarded breakdowns. Genesis is not any of these things. Am I even listening to the same band that released the piss-poor Doom and was paraded around by Hot Topic kids?

Job for a Cowboy’s Genesis marks a mammoth attempt to leave behind their trendy deathcore days of old and embrace a style of semi-technical death metal more akin to bands like Aeon, Vader, and others. And for the most part they actually succeed in pulling it off. This isn’t a deathcore album, not in any sense of the word. This is honest to god death metal. From the riffs, to the drumming, and even to the growling vocals Genesis is full of authentic death metal.

This isn’t to say Genesis is a good album. It unfortunately is not. But it’s not a bad album either. The songwriting fails to catch my attention and there is nothing here that is really innovative enough for special merit. However, Genesis does have enough hooks and well-conceived riffs and solos to keep it merely as a mediocre record. The drumming performance and vocal style are standard, but nothing horrible and thus fit the rest of the quality of the record.

However, if there is anything that Genesis represents, it’s that there is actually some promise to this oft-ridiculed band (a rarity if there ever was one). If Job for a Cowboy can maintain the same level of growth and progression in future releases that they did between their horrid Doom EP and Genesis then they may turn out a very good record. I’m not exaggerating when I say this album was a complete turn around for the band. And to be completely honest, I’m pretty sure that if you played this particular album for most death metallers without saying who the band is you’d get a very different reaction than from when they know in advance they’re listening to Job for a Cowboy.

In the end, though, Genesis is still at best mediocre. I can’t recommend this to anyone given all the other quality death metal releases this past year (i.e. Odious Mortem, Element, Monstrosity, Portal, Ulcerate, etc.). But there is definitely promise in this record; if they can keep up the growth that the band has had since their last release, they just might release something of quality.

Written By: Necro-tron