Oddly enough only intended for the Japanese market, any fan of either of the projects included here should either be praying for a local label to distribute this, or just go the import route, because both are at the top of their game here. Envy continues their shoegaze influenced post rock sound, while Jesu adopts the more electronic side to his sound that was, coincidentally enough, last featured this well on the split with another TRL act, Eluvium.
Envy contributes the three tracks that open up the disc, followed by Jesu’s two. “Conclusion of Existence” is all treated shoegaze guitars and lots of synths: the thick production and quiet vocals actually put it not far removed from the second side of The Cure’s Disintegration with a modernized digital sheen. “A Winter Quest for Fantasy” retains a similar feel, but is focused less on the electronic and more on the guitar, the electronic percussion this time replaced with living drumming. “Life Caught in the Rain” cranks the rock up noticeably more, especially in its midsection where they return to their hardcore roots, even if its just for a brief time.
Jesu, in this case Justin Broadrick solo, take up slightly more room on this disc with only two tracks, the sprawling “Hard to Reach” and “The Stars That Hang Above You.” As aforementioned this is Jesu sticking closely to an electronic sound, there’s no heavy layered riffing like is usually featured on the full length albums, instead it is made up mostly of synths and heavily treated guitar, though some good old fashion metal elements show up here and there. “Hard to Reach” begins with a long passage of skittering digital percussion, tons of layers and effects over it before the vocals kick in, where Justin continues Jesu way of actually singing rather than the growl he developed within Godflesh. While it stretches for over 13 minutes, it stays consistently gorgeous. Oddly enough it’s not like the other long form tracks Jesu has put out, such as on Heartache and Sundown/Sunrise, because this retains the feeling of a singular track, rather than the others feeling like multiple elements combined into a single piece.
The shorter “The Stars That Hang Above You” opens like “End of the Road” from the Lifeline EP ends with its layered synth and heavily treated guitar, but tacks on a a noisy breakbeat that could have been lifted from the early days of Techno Animal. Even with the rough beat, the track is probably one of the gentlest, most pop oriented tracks Justin has ever released, while still retaining everything that has made Jesu great thus far. Even the second half of the track, when the heavy guitar and drum machine kicks in, it stays slow and beautiful.
Both bands have, in my humble opinion, contributed some of their best work to this split disc, and their sounds make for a natural compliment to each other. It is interesting to see that Jesu is actually the less “rock” project this time around which, back in Godflesh’s heyday, I would have found to be an absurd thought. As probably the biggest Jesu fan on Brainwashed, I was absolutely gushing at how great the two tracks on here are, and I’m still doing as much.
samples:
- Envy - A Winter Quest for Fantasy
- Jesu - Hard to Reach
- Jesu - The Stars that Hang Above You
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