Jesusegg – The Second Coming

Release Date: 26/07/2019
Record Label: Seeing Red Records

The good thing about grindcore is that sometimes the albums are short enough to squeeze into smoke breaks. The astonishing thing about grindcore is that sometimes, they pull off full-fledged tracks in under a minute (where other bands waste ten minutes to make some kind of a point.) On the other hand, the bad thing about grindcore is that sometimes the albums are so short that you struggle to find ways to review them other than “It’s good!”

I mean, level with me – how does one approach reviewing an album that manages to squeeze 15 songs into 11 minutes? That’s hardly even an EP, let alone a whole album! But, be that as it may, the ultimate question is, is The Second Coming worth a listen?

In one word: fuckyes.

Well, for a start, let’s deal with the music first. Jesusegg play a slightly whacked out version of grindcore. They are not as technical as Cognizance, avant-garde as Psudoku or jazzy / freeform as Brazen Bull, and yet they manage to be hard-hitting, technically-inclined and interesting. They stand to deliver a sound that is easily recognizable as their own, which is no mean feat in a sea of punk riffs and blast beats.

If that seems too abstract, let me say this: by blending in elements of grindcore, punk, noise and at times, jazz, Jesusegg create a type of engaging, exciting aggression that is less blunt instrument and more finely-sharpened scalpel. Not that they are beyond their more baser instincts as songs like Eat Sleep Rape, Gunt Hunt or the excellently-titled Dildozer indicate; but the overall direction isn’t the monstrous speed and agression grindcore is known for.

What’s astonishing is, despite being dedicated to a more refined sound with slight experimental leanings, The Second Coming never ventures into the absurd or silly. Sure, there are the more off-kilter tracks like Mambo #4 or Reversed Baptism but besides these two, there is nothing that can be properly classified as “weird.” It’s off-center but not in the extreme.

The Second Coming also manages to avoid the typical production pitfalls that plagues grindcore (underproduction and overproduction) The sound is nice, well-rounded and dynamic. It manages to remain hard-hitting, slightly bassy but loses nothing of its strength or bravado. Other grind bands should be taking notes. One possible complaint may be that it is rather quiet, but I’d rather this than another Born to Murder the World, any day of the week.

I guess, ultimately, trying to elaborate why a bite-sized “album” like this is pointless, mainly because you can just easily be more than halfway through it in the time it takes you to read this review (all of it, if you were reading a bit slowly.)

Line-Up:
Matt Philips – Vocals
Cole Martinez- Guitars
Jamie Bibbs – Guitars
Jon Vinson – drums

01 Julius Seizure
02 Cervical Rot
03 Improper Use of a Breast Pump
04 Eat Sleep Rape
05 Diuretic Orgasm
06 Mambo #4
07 Gunt Hunt
08 Dildozer
09 Laddy Dong Legs
10 Autocannibalism
11 Succelus
12 Meatswell
13 Anti-Christamime
14 Profundicate
15 Reversed Baptism

Jesusegg on Facebook
Jesusegg on Bandcamp
The Second Coming on Seeing Red Records’ Bandcamp