Texas metalcore hopefuls Judiciary don’t so much rewrite the mold on Flesh + Blood (Closed Casket Activities) so much as up the Lamb Of God meets Machine Head influences instead of poorly biting At The Gates like most other metalcore bands.
Accented by whirlwind solos, dives, and duels,
the band avoid the sophomore slump on a fired-up Arthur Rizk produced and Will Putney mixed scene seat-grabber. It’s no wonder the dire storm clouds conjured by the Slayer-esque ‘Engulfed’ solo section are followed by torn throat cries about shattered glass.
I tend to like a hungrier band having more gnarly, lower-budget production. Not that I want bands to be broke, but sometimes demos sound more energized than the oft-flattened sound of stuff aiming for a commercially rounded off edges breakthrough. Extinction‘s ‘Seed of Evil’ on Bandcamp sounds like the meanest shit out there right now, for example.
Judiciary has managed to sound more produced and pro-level while also keeping it pretty damn clobbery.
In the ‘Attack On Titan’ siege of Trost arc, eccentric commander Dot Pyxis muses how you would think a threat bigger than humanity would make people band together, yet we still fight amongst ourselves. This is the opposite of how Ozymandias in Watchmen made a false flag alien invasion-level event, sacrificing lives for a lie but with the greater purpose of stopping mutual annihilation between the premiere world powers. In Watchmen it actually works and creates temporary peace.
Critique is also important for growth. After a while, most metalcore to me sounds insecure. Most bands never come close to topping the menace or thrills of Unearth‘s successful template (see the pure conviction delivery of ‘Darkness in the Light’). Greener bands are also often not progressing enough or being as outstanding as to warrant the gatekeeping within niche scenes. So many bands ape one another so they “know what to do”. Stylistic signifiers become glacial industry mandates in a stagnating pool, to paraphrase my drummer pal Nate Kelley.
Judiciary do not reinvent the wheel but thankfully manage to thrill regardless with passion intact and a clear sense that they are trying to expand their horizons outward. It aint broke so they didn’t fix it, but they did supe it up and add more dynamics.
‘Blood’ alternates between crowd-hopping violence, thrashing gallop, and breakdown (mental and physical) fury. ‘Paradigm Piercer’ is the first flat-out indispensable banger on here, a weary yet unwavering determinism permeating in the massive marching energy to an intense boiling point.
Despite the crowd-pleasing adrenaline in the faster parts, the slower shit is really the coolest on this record and packs a huge punch. Some parts even border on Testament greatness when the band really loosens up and goes for it. ‘Stare Into The Sun’ bangs with an axe-like ferocity into your skull, accented with relentless drums.
‘Eschatos Hemera’ , the most dissonant and aggrieved sounding song, closes things out. This one leans into a sort of Roots-era Sepultura anxious churn topped by fairly standard metalcore screams. While I am tired of bands adding just this side of in-tune, semi-commercial melodic vocals and acting like it is some huge, risky game changer, it doesn’t derail the tune.
All in all, this is a more than admirable release.
Buy the album here:
https://closedcasketactivities.com/collections/judiciary
7 / 10
MORGAN Y. EVANS