Straight Jacket

Oh, how I longed for this day. After many a time spent in local record shops looking for something that remotely resembles metal, I found this. To call it a gem would be far too much of an overstatement; there are but a handful of quality songs. However, I was happy just to find something so obscure. Joyous day. I’ll get on with the review now because this is pretty irrelevant.

So what we are given here is from the nineties, when hardcore made its most lasting impression in music, with a number of bands like Converge leading the way. Straight Jacket also incorporates some elements of post-thrashcore/groove metal here, with some interesting rhythms from both the guitars and drums delivered at different times. The vocals suit the music but can be painful at times when he thinks he can sing instead of screaming.

The longer songs on this album follow a pretty consistent writing style, and these are Darkness Forever, Bleeding for No One, and Before Their Time. These songs, while longer in length, are more or less one or two guitar riffs drawn out, after which there is a transition phase where another riff is brought in for a minute, after which the song promptly ends. The lyrics are at their best on these songs, though, keeping me interested in what he has to say. These songs excel in those slow parts, rather than when they try to speed things up.

The shorter songs, which make up tracks 3 through 8, are quite bland and fail to really stick out in my mind as anything memorable or recognizable, even though I have spun this album on my stereo a number of times. Again the subtle parts here stand out, like the intro to Nightmares, as well as on Refusing and Thoughts of Leaving. These songs are fast paced and run their course without feeling too worn out or shortened too much. The patterns are recognizable and don’t deviate too much. There are two or three riffs that follow a certain order without mixing it up much. However, this does keep the album feeling consistent, which I suppose is a good thing.

The vocals vary a good deal across the album, from the disturbing warped vocals of Dreaming of Life and Promise, to the almost patented shouting vocals akin to Messhugah and early Mastodon that indicate the post-thrashcore influence. At times there are also clean vocals, which I contend to be some of the worst I’ve ever heard; devoid of any talent or passion. Two or three times in the album female clean vocals pop up. These are not so poor on their own, but feel out of place in the music. The weird little insert that is the very last thing you hear from Straight Jacket at the end of Before Their Time kind of ruins the whole mood with a failed attempt to say “We’re badass and we know it!” It really destroys the whole mood honestly, it really is that out of place and horrible.

The guitars are the most interesting aspect on the album, as they are very consistent throughout, although this does cause me to be pretty bored by the time I get through listening to the whole album though. However, in small doses, it is very interesting the different rhythms that they give you and the guitar leads are very nice. They are not going for the most complex riffs, simply those that sound good. They are tuned in an interesting way that helps Straight Jacket set themselves apart. The riffs are generally fast, based on playing a note at a certain tempo and providing melody by changing the note rather than the rhythm. There are some other interesting distortions like on Bleeding for No One, Before Their Time, and Thoughts of Leaving. Unfortunately, the bass is mixed poorly on the album so it does not command much of a presence, mostly keeping pace with the rhythm guitar.

The drums are kind of disappointing on the album, as they do very little to do anything outside of the box, barely keeping up with the rest of the music with very predictable drum fills and double bass pedal rhythms. It would suit you best if you did not hold your breath for any blast beats, much less any challenging rhythms. To give the guy credit though, it does suit well as background music very well.

Another major point of annoyance to me on this album was lyrics, as they are very similar to stuff that you get in the alternative rock genre. Lots of stuff about relationships, which does not get me at all angry like the rest of the music encourages you to. However, they also do well to deal with some depression, like on Refusing and Bleeding for No One. However, they do bring up some interesting points of doubt and frustration with religion, and they do it well and word it more as an opinion rather than telling you that everything about it is wrong and totally thrashing it, which pisses me off.

There is no a ton of depth to this self-titled sole release, and I can say I am slightly disappointed. If they had continued on, I feel they could have became something better and developed their sound more, but alas this is all we have. They do have some very interesting intros using distortion and drifting guitars and drums, which are the most solid part of the album. If you see this I would probably pick it up, as it was pretty cheap (3 bucks for an album is a steal), but it is not something I would put any effort into trying to find. It is a mediocre example of post-thrashcore though. Here are the best songs on the album: Darkness Forever, Bleeding for No One, Dreaming of Life, and Promise.