Tried and tested Norway’s Jagged Vision return to their take on sludge infused stoner metal. Belting out a succession of classic inspired metal riffs with a more emphatic structure than usually found in the stoner archetype.
The second album from Jagged Vision Death Is This World takes you through a hard and well trodden esplanade of soulful tunes with a hefty and substantial backing from tonally dirty sounding guitar riffs. Riding on a solid foundation the Norwegians have a punk edge and an emo slant to their sonic topography, however this doesn’t impact on the heavy as lead music coming from this fine album.
Unafraid to play with licks these songs are played with real passion behind them. Expertly utilizing many techniques homogeneous to extreme metal and inspiring head nodding in symphony. Solos are the Marmite of metal but hey if you’ve got it flaunt it and Jagged Vision have a voluptuous amount of it.
There’s more to this album that just refined guitar work and the rhythm section (read: drummer Joakim Svela) compliments the melodies with uncomplicated cadences in complex structures. Unobtrusively allowing the chords to fly through the air and lift the tunes up on their own frequency while being grounded in time. Also in the mix they sound punchier than a facelift post-op.
The standard fare on vocals doesn’t detract from the ensemble. While they’re a bit hardcore they’re fitting to the style. A bit wet and powered by Hardcore with no defining features. It’s made up for the mass amounts of personality coming from the guitarist. A great example of why the old six-string singer is always in fashion.
8/10
