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Jesus On Extasy - Holy Beauty


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The 2007 debut of young Germans from Essen put other alternative rock bands in a shade. Jesus On Extasy with a little budget managed to stand out from dark independent scene to such an extent they were quickly praised an example for a new wave of industrial rock. A blend of synths, guitars and new gothic look made the teenager goth fans start to fill up concert halls. Is Holy Beauty really an exceptional record or just a well-created product for a goth mass? Probably the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Three years have not passed since the beginning of the band, and yet Jesus On Extasy managed to release an album, record two music videos and became the god for young goth girls. Band leader – Dorian, would often bring back his memories about his first inspirations, which took his material to the level of "commercial alternative". Musician do not hide the fact that while recording the album, he was following standard and common schemes of dark scene and when he was writing lyrics he was basing them on the masters of the genre. Besides, taking his work into account, it is more than easy to arrive at the conclusion that he is fascinated with Marilyn Manson.

Sexy vocal, reminiscent of Ville Valo, catchy lyrics (although every teenage goth who knows earlier-mentioned Manson could write in the same way) and truly energetic guitars interweaving with cold synths, create melodies, which are great in the reception for everybody. After having listened to the record for the fist time, it may seem charming, but upon next listening, one comes to conclusion that it is not as emotional as in the beginning. The truth is that we still swayi and hum, but the songs quickly start to remind us about the sound of Dope Stars Inc., Zeromancer or even (sic!) KMFDM. And it is nothing strange, because those bands have many things in common such as the genre or lyrics, with the exception of the last one, of course, which has worked with JOE on some tracks a couple of times (example: remix of Assasinate Me featured in this album).

Eleven tracks which were included on the CD are enough to be satisfied with. Opening Assassinate Me is certainly a good song, which is a sort of gate-opner to the land of sounds of Holy Beauty. The second track, Nuclear Bitch, also keeps the same level as the opener, but the third one – Drowning for the first few seconds surprises with its peculiar electronic sound, yet after a while comes back on a good path. Neochrome with sharp guitars shows us the other face of the band – harder, uglier and no more cute, which may not be perfect for a synthpop fan, who will like the next JOE's song, in one way or the other: 2nd Skin – the cover of The Chameleons. Alone, which is the secong single; is a pretentious, full of emotions and feelings song, which was not good exploited both as a track and as a video. The next song – Puppet, is like a shadow. There is no warmth, no cold, far from nothing or something. A ghost song. It is hard to write about it, you simply have to hear it yourself. Unfortunately, the secong cover on this album – Nowhere Girl, is not an advantage, as well. An attempt to move a B-Movie magic to the XXI century is not a bad idea, but it has terrible effects. Ending of the basic version of the album – Reach Out is definitely better a ballad than horribly mixed Alone, sort of an advantage of disadvantage.

Since that album is three-springs old, and gothic scene has been evolving everyday, that debut created some trails for bands that are now beggining their experience with industrial rock, and it showed that some commonly known styles and melodies might look or sound fundamentally different. Some more experienced fans of dark independent scene will not be excessively interested in the release, but for the younger it may be an interesting revelation. Music is not great, lyrics neither, but there is "sometnig" to it. Maybe it is the band's image – not strictly gothic, not cybergothic, but rather a sort of a hybrid of these two. Unfortunately, nowadays plenty of bands look very much the same. Does Jesus on Extasy want to be original or just make sure they are on top, regardless the quality of the music they play? This issue remains unsolved.

Tracklisting:
01. Assassinate Me
02. Nuclear Bitch
03. Drowning
04. Neochrome
05. 2nd Skin
06. Alone
07. Puppet
08. Holy Beauty
09. Nowhere Girl
10. Reach Out
11. Assassinate Me (KMFDM Remix)

Bonus tracks:
12. Alone (Acoustic Version)
13. Neochrome (Live)
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Translator: ScarabBonku
Add date: 2010-09-30 / Music reviews


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