Javelina are a Beast in Beast’s Clothing
Posted in Reviews on November 3rd, 2009 by JJ KoczanTheir team may be down in the World Series as of Nov. 3 (Cliff Lee can?t pitch ?em all), but Philadelphia?s finest purveyors of thickened thrash, Javelina, are just hitting their stride. On their second offering for Translation Loss, Beasts among Sheep, they rip, tear, growl, feedback and scream their way through eight tracks (nine if you count the bonus) of righteous workingman?s fury, with just enough doom awareness to keep away from being a basement version of Slayer or whichever modern Slayer clone you?d want to compare them to.
They?re like Thrash Sabbath.
Even on opener ?You?re Gonna Hate This? — probably named for the 30 seconds of abrasive feedback that starts the album — Javelina show a heightened awareness of melody as the guitars of Chubbrock and Mike B. come together to harmonize a riff at top speed. Both guitarists and bassist Herb handle vocals, leaving only drummer Erik mic-less, so there is no shortage of changes or variety in the approach, though all three singers handle screams. The tactic is most effective on tracks like middle cut ?Arcadia,? where the voices combine or run in and out of each other, making the most of the differences between everyone?s individual contributions.
If you heard Javelina?s self-titled debut, which came out last year, then you should have a basic idea of what to expect, but where the four-piece excels is in an even-tighter presentation of the material. Beasts among Sheep was recorded at Chicago?s Volume Studios by (none other than) Sanford Parker, so the clarity of the production should go without saying, but Javelina keep a ferociously aggressive live feel to victorious riffs like that around which ?A Little Paranoia Goes a Long Way? is based, and the groove resulting is all the more headbang-worthy for it.