Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Jaw
Title
Jaw
Type
LP/EP
Company
Independent
YOR
2004
Style
Heavy/Extreme
5/25/2004 - Review by: Frank Hill
Jaw S/T 2003 Reversed Records Reviewed by: Nailer

Track Listing
1. Kin
2. Confetti Rains
3. Sympathy
4. Forty Four Seconds
5. The Calm
Most of the metal I listen to can be dropped into one of the main genres (death, power, black) fairly easily, but the 5-song EP from Canadian band Jaw is quite different. It's easily the most unique metal CD I've heard this year.

Lyrically, standard writing is set aside for bleak stream of consciousness phrases strung together like this:

"The calm's breathing...lie to all my faces...look back at me...I fear freedom...fall backwards...and you...no...don't touch me...no...not alive...no...heart beating...no...waiting for me...."

On first listen, there's no way to predict which way the songs will go. Emmanuel Olorewaju slurs first-person gutteral yells over top of deep slabs of guitar work from Jason Dokken--no similarity to the other band sharing his name--whose playing is essentially non-melodic, metalcore-styled, foundation riffs that back up the angry vocals. It might not be such a interesting CD were it not for the vocals which range from drunken hollering to Eddie Vedder slurring that layers in and out of the songs.

Certainly it's fresh for the field, but the innovation Jaw is giving may be too much for conservative metal audiences and more for the new millennium headbanger. Listening to Jaw is like watching an autistic person hitting themself over and over and over.

Bottom Line: The music itself should appeal to modern fans of hardcore/metalcore, but the primal vocals are strangely delivered and a toss-up.


--Nailer 05.25.04
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    N/A :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: JAW
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Jaw
2004
Independent
Frank Hill5/25/2004
-

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: JAW
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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