Jinjer – King Of Everything (2016) Album Review

Yes, this review is way overdue. The fact is that I had listened to Jinjer’s album, King of Everything, intently back in 2016 with the intention of reviewing it, which never happened. The album has recently entered my regular rotation. I have to say that it has been an absolute pleasure to be listening to it again, and I might say more enjoyable than the first time around.

What I’m really liking about King of Everything at this point is the direction the album goes musically. In its defiance of genre categorization, it draws on several heavy metal genres and ends up being an intense package of aggression and refreshing energy on the metal scene.

What Jinjer is able to do where so many of their tech death or metalcore counterparts fail, is incorporate highly technical playing with solid songwriting. That seems to be something that they didn’t lose sight of; the song is the important part and the technical nuances should be minimal and used to enhance the song — not the other way around.

In the same way as the technical aspects of the music have been used in a utilitarian fashion, Tatiana Shmailyuk’s vocals are used to great effect and offer tons of dynamics to the songs. True, her growls dominate, but her cleans often carry the songs through the melodies. Her cleans are spectacular to listen to; she has a great voice that could carry another band with no growls, but as it is, we get the devil and the angel from Tatiana in Jinjer.

What’s more, Jinjer is able to appeal to several age demographics. While incorporating certain modern metal elements, such as technical/progressive scales, bass drops, breakdowns, and blast beats, they also shred and include many old-school techniques from thrash metal and death metal. The point is, that there is a lot to listen to, but the listener never feels overwhelmed.

Obviously, the two tracks that are creating the most buzz are “I Speak Astronomy,” which has a very distinctive Rush “YYZ” intro, and “Pisces.” Both great songs, but time will be well spent also listening to “Dip Sail,” “Captain Clock,” “Words of Wisdom,” and “Just Another.” The band also lets out their jazz influence on the left-field album closer, “Beggars’ Dance.”

The Verdict:

For a third album, Jinjer sounds very accomplished and polished on King of Everything. As stated, they blend a lot of elements into the album, but the songs never get away from them. This album is highly recommended for anyone who likes heavy metal, but perhaps will be most appreciated by those who like extreme metal, tech death, and progressive metal.

Rock Hard \m/