This album. WOW. I’m a big fan of JFAC, and I’m a huge fan of deathcore; so their old stuff is always going to have a soft spot in my heart. But they’ve changed, which not everyone thinks is a good thing. I’d love it if they went back to their old ways but i cant help but jam this newer, more progressive sound they have.Their last 2 Studio albums ‘Ruination‘ and ‘Demonocrary’ showed a huge improvement in their progressive death metal sound with the final tracks on the albums, ‘Ruination’ and ‘Tarnished Gluttony‘. However ‘Sun Eater‘ is a whole new level for them. Everything is on point.
Jonny Davy’s vocals are frankly incredible. The riffage from Al Gassman and Tony Sannicandro is just sublime. The drums fit perfectly and there is nothing that could have been done any better. It’ll be interesting to see if studio drummer Danny Walker will be made full time! The bass. I cannot get over the sound from the bass in this album. It has genuinely captivated me – and i don’t have a great ear for bass. Congratulations to Nick Schendzielos! 5 stars on composition and overall awesomeness.
I cant help but link this album to Mastodon, which can only be a good thing. The epic feeling that Mastodon create and the epic feeling that JFAC have created is incredible. Now i know that these two bands are in two completely different ball parks, progressive metal and progressive death metal, a big gap. However the feeling is real.
Its such a heavy album, with absolute crushing riffs, soaring solos with intense dives and impressive climbs. The key tracks on this have to be ‘Sun Of Nihility‘, ‘Eating The Visions of God‘, ‘A Global Shift‘ and ‘The Celestial Antidote’. They are some impressive, crushing, proggy-as-fuck tunes. And do not be fooled by the fact its only a 9 track album – devastating i know – but its about quality not quantity! There is not one fault in this album and its an incredible feat for this band. Id say they’ve really pushed the boat out on this one and have struck gold.
Audiohammer producer Jason Suecof, whose first bout with the band was 2009’s ‘Ruination’ has now worked with the band for over six years. Few are more familiar with how JFAC operates in the studio than Suecof, and he was also feeling the vibe on ‘Sun Eater‘ saying:
“This band is composed entirely of top notch musicians all the way around and they are clearly at the top of their game. This new album is a stellar combination of everyone’s efforts and what we have now is something that conveys everyone’s musicianship without being techy for the sake of being tech. This album has got feeling and it is fucking brutal!”
