Jettison Greymatter
Recluse
6.9
Don’t let the cover art fool you into thinking Recluse is just another boring emo with death vocals EP. The format is well known and terribly overused, but New Jersey’s Jettison Greymatter manages to keep things somewhat stimulating to the ear with their forward-thinking aggressive metalcore, and while I’m sure the band could very easily fall into overly technical wankery if they felt like it, instead they choose a more direct, grinding approach. Momentous death metal is most prevalent during the faster roaring blast sections of tunes such as “Photosynthetic Starlight”, and “Malcontent”, and chugging segues feature choppy staccato in ways that alternate between being groovy and easy to follow, to delving into more slightly challenging Byzantine-styled thrash parts.
“Fallen”, however, is a track that’s assembled as one long varying breakdown, slowly lumbering with bent notes wailing, until the inevitable ripping finish arrives almost like clockwork. There are plentiful breakdowns, but with “Malcontent” they feel rather unnecessary and don’t really do much to add texture to an already humdrum song, which is disappointing considering the promising progressive intro to the track.
“Pol Pot” begins with a sludgy drawl resembling early Crowbar before delving into a mid-paced lurch, heavy with triplet riffs accented by regulation double-bass accompaniment with vocalist TJ Tolomeo hitting a stride so guttural I’m surprised the dude didn’t give himself a hernia. While I usually chuckle at grunted vox, it makes for a nice departure from TJ’s parched Mark Hunter (Chimaira) howling. “Kiss The Wind” closes this rather lengthy six-song affair with some boisterous rhythm fills fleshing-out the spaces, but only succeeds in ending this solid effort with a shrug of indifference compared to the earlier firepower of the first couple tracks.
With a better production job and little more attention to tightening up details with their songcraft, I’d say a future Prosthetic or Relapse signing is in the making. Otherwise, Jettison Greymatter could easily become another piece of kindling for the multicolor tattooed, earlobe-plugged bonfire, but at least the potential for greater things exists. I’d like to hear them get rid of some of the more generic breakdown filler and expand on the potential some of the guitar leads displayed, but overall Recluse definitely wasn’t a chore to listen to. It’s a free download at Gomek Records’ website--what have you got to lose?
