Jess and The Ancient Ones – Vertigo

Releasedate: 21-05-2021
Label: Svart Records

Intro

The Finnish acid death rock band Jess And The Ancient Ones is back! It has been almost four years since the release of the previous album and now it is time for the brand new full-length… Here comes “Vertigo“! If you have read my review of the previous release, – or if you know me personally-, you will know that I have become obsessed with JATAO back then already. So as you can imagine, my expectations were quite high with “Vertigo”.

Review

I gotta admit this time it wasn’t love-at-first-sight. However, the more I listened to “Vertigo”, the more I fell in love with it. The fans and lovers of this style will get to enjoy the amazing and colorful acid death rock / psych rock from the beginning to the end. The highlights are the signature melodies, Jess’ fascinating vocals and the multi-dimensional and colorful music. This is what makes JATAO unique in this genre and “Vertigo” is another proof of this. Every track feels different and offers a highlight on their own while belonging to one single album.

Speaking of highlights, some songs stand out right from the start. “Summer Tripping Man” and “Love Zombi” are songs you will get get lured in right from the beginning with that flow and the up-tempo pace as well as the catchy melodies. On the other hand I would consider “Born to Kill” as the ‘metal’ song in the album and also THE song where we get to see the full potential of Jess’ powerful vocals. Just as with the previous release, I also enjoyed the movie and novel references such as tributes to The Exorcist in “Talking Board” and War of the Worlds in “Strange Earth Illusion”. In particular, the aura of these references added that extra nice dark and eerie dimension.

So does “Vertigo” exceed my expectations? In a way, yes. I keep discovering new twists and surprises each time I listen to the songs. However, this time I felt the lack of motivation in the overall atmosphere as the album did not have this ‘JATAO-flow’ as I had expected. But hey, that is exactly what I meant with ‘not love at first sight’. “Vertigo” might not be “The Horse and Other Weird Tales” but it will grow on you with time and you will find yourself hooked on certain melodies.

“Vertigo” is definitely a must-have for the fans of this genre but also for anyone who is looking to trip and dream. Once again, JATAO shows us how limitless, diverse and colorful the sound in this genre can be. So dig deep and discover the fantastic tunes!

Track list:

1. Burning of the Velvet Fires
2. World Paranormal
3. Talking Board
4. Love Zombi
5. Summer Tripping Man
6. Born to Kill
7. What’s On Your Mind
8. Strange Earth Illusion

Links:

Bandcamp
Facebook
Official