Jinjer – Duél

I was listening to Jinjer quite heavily during their “King of Everything” era. I could go as far as to have called myself a fan. I also loved their “Micro” EP, but after that, I lost contact with what they’ve been doing. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed by “Macro” and “Wallflowers“, just had my attention taken in other places. Something about “Duél“, their latest release, made me curious to see how they’ve evolved over the years, and so I jumped back in.

This album is… interesting… and confusing… I don’t mean that in a negative way, quite the contrary. I’ve been reviewing albums for almost 10 years now. And if I may dare brag, I think I’ve reached a point where it’s very easy for me to articulate what I like and dislike about a piece of music, despite having no real knowledge of composition and music theory. But this album leaves me scratching my head after streaming it, probably 10 times now. Why do I like it? It’s hard to tell. And because there are more albums getting released that I want to listen to, I decided I’m gonna write this review in a state of partial confusion, instead of staying stuck on this album indefinitely. So if you’re interested in reading a rant where I try to explain to myself what this peculiar listening experience is on about, then buckle up dear reader! ‘Cos I don’t know what’s about to occur in the following paragraphs, any more than you do.

Jinjer – Rogue

From the first note of the album, they jump right into the maelstrom. ‘Tantrum’ kicks off with the full band and vocals, running chaotically over complex and progressive composition with shifting rhythm. They’ve never been a band to muck about with intros and atmosphere and they always cut right to the chase, so that’s fun. No time to prepare! Once you’re in, it’s pretty much like riding a rollercoaster in the dark: tons of energy, tons of unexpected shifts, a lot of speed, and a lot of being tumbled around seemingly aimlessly.

I’ve been thinking of them as a metalcore band, but I think that label might’ve become obsolete by the time they made “Macro“. Even before that, they weren’t exactly fully metalcore like Architects or Spiritbox. But what they’re doing now couldn’t be further from really any genre label. Should I call it progressive metal, experimental, avant-garde? That would make sense, except it’s… catchy? Like, VERY catchy. Not traditionally catchy though. I actually struggle to find a lot of ear worms, and I don’t have any melody stuck in my head once the album is done. But while listening, I feel gripped by the music. The melodies, grooves and rhythmic patters intuitively feel “right”. In many ways it’s chaotic, but it’s not senseless. Boy, figuring out the “for fans of” choices is gonna be tricky for this album. It’s kinda like if Meshuggah wasn’t willingly abusing their listeners I suppose.

Jinjer – Green Serpent

Anyway, that’s the overall sense I have of the album. But let’s look at more specific details. As previously mentioned, there are a lot of rhythmic shifts and odd time signatures. Some songs I feel are more frantic and chaotic, like ‘Rogue’. That one’s slightly difficult to digest. But then there are the likes of ‘Green Serpent’ or ‘Fast Draw’, that spontaneously pull some massive breakdowns out of the maelstrom, and also seem to give more space for the listener to breathe. There’s also a bit of a jazzy tendency in songs like ‘Tumbleweed’, ‘Dark Bile’, and one of my favourites, ‘Kafka’, which starts on a bit of a gentle and eclectic mood only to slash through the most ridiculously fast, blast beat driven, section of the entire album, half way through the song.

The level of detail on the drums is staggering. Vladislav Ulasevich is an absolute master of smooth grooves and ghost notes. He’s also brilliant with odd accent placements and with subtly or suddenly developing the rhythm from tender to ferocious. It’s no secret that he can blast like a maniac either, but with the level of virtuosity and complexity on this album, that’s probably nowhere near the most impressive thing he does. Most of his parts, I feel are above my pay grade in terms of analysis and can probably best be described as fluidly metamorphotic rhythmic acrobatics! Don’t ask me what that means. The same is the case with Roman Ibramkhalilov on guitar and Eugene Abdukhanov on bass. Both are ferociously virtuosic, and for the most part, they leave me at a loss of words to describe what exactly it is that they’re doing. The cocktail of riffery, melody, noodling and slapping reigns supreme.

Jinjer – Someone’s Daughter

On top of a volatile, complex and subconsciously coherent composition, comes an equally impressive and counterintively sensical vocal and lyrical display. Tatiana Shmayluk‘s vocal approach hasn’t changed much over the years. She has the same deep and penetrating growl, the same effortless clean belting, the same tender voice on softer sections, and the same ease of switching between different tools in her vocal arsenal. But I feel like on this music, she becomes more volatile and unpredictable (cough cough ‘Kafka’). I’ve always found her delivery to be very visceral emotionally, but I feel like the more intellectual their composition has gotten, the less obvious the meaning of her vocals has gotten as well. There’s a subtle theater and a play on hidden meanings and aesthetics in how she chooses to deliver the message. You can think of her as a storyteller, or as a character in each song’s mini-story. And while this is by no means a concept album, I think there’s a running theme of oppositions going through most songs, that is wrapped in the most obvious rivalry in the final track, the ‘Duél’. ‘Someone’s Daughter’ is the woman set against a world not compatible with her. ‘Tumbleweed’ is someone driven out of their house and left to wander astray. ‘Green Serpent’ is the battle with alcoholism. ‘Tantrum’ describes a clash between aristocratic elegance and rugged, shocking forms of expression of the less fortunate. And so on. I wouldn’t know whether I’m reading all the meanings right, or if they’re open to multiple interpretations, but these are some of the things that came to my mind.

To end this potentially incoherent review, I want to spotlight my favourite moment in the album, the finale. There is a sudden pause near the end of the title track, followed by a tragic yet explosive sounding outro, which I can confidently say symbolizes the moment when the two rivals draw their guns. This must be one of the most impressive examples of artistic suggestion I’ve seen in a long time. And so ‘Duél’ is a wrap, and I can finally leave you to your own devices before both our brains melt and start leaking out our earholes! Thank you for reading!

Track List:

1. Tantrum (03:59)
2. Hedonist (03:45)
3. Rogue (03:12)
4. Tumbleweed (03:21)
5. Green Serpent (04:01)
6. Kafka (04:09)
7. Dark Bile (03:40)
8. Fast Draw (03:13)
9. Someone’s Daughter (04:17)
10. A Tongue so Sly (04:24)
11. Duél (04:48)