You can still listen to those upbeat songs of the summer if you want, but different weather evokes different moods in people, and sometimes you aren't in the mood for Miley Cyrus or Katy Perry. Sometimes you want something a little more mid tempo, something that really fits the mood. So, I introduce to you: Jesu  (side project of Justin Broadrick, ex-member of Napalm Death  and Godflesh, two of the heaviest grindcore bands ever).

 

Jesu is down tempo, slow, indie/post rock. It's ambient, industrial, and spacey. It fits perfectly as the soundtrack to fall, the transition from summer into winter. It's slow, almost to the point where it can be called "shoegaze", but still a little too heavy to fit. At certain points, Jesu sounds like Isis, a popular post-rock/metal band, and Hum, one of the best bands ever. It's spacey, with sound effects, droning guitars, and slow, thudding drums all layered on top of one another to create a blurry wall of sound.

 

Nothing about Jesu will make you think Napalm Death, and that's a good thing. Napalm Death is fast, heavy, and obnoxious for the sake of being so. Jesu, on the other hand, is powerful in a different way. It seems real, like he's really trying to say something instead of trying to make your ears bleed. The typical Napalm Death song is around a minute or under in length, with intense guitars, blastbeats, and growling vocals. Jesu is the exact opposite. Jesu doesn't really have a song under 5 minutes. 

 

If you decide to go for a walk through a park on a nice sixty degree day sometime this fall, maybe to clear your head, maybe to wander mindlessly and stare at the beautiful colors on the trees, put the album Conquerer on your iPod. It's really best described on allmusic.com, when they say "its vulnerable anemic tenderness and empathy comes through the heart of the beautifully layered, multi-textured dirge like a lullaby". Lullaby. There isn't a better word for this CD. 

 

In my opinion, this album can go both extremes: if you're depressed, this is what you will put on to feel more depressed, to clear your head (it really can be hypnotizing), or, if you're in a good mood, this will help you stay in a good mood and enjoy your life. Maybe I'm wrong -- it might be a little too slow for some people to use as feel good music. 

 

This album is both the yin and the yang: aggressive yet mellow, heavy yet soft. It's not very often someone can create something so sonically beautiful and melodic that it encompasses both extremes. And because of this, the songs seem genuine, like he was sitting on the floor in a barren apartment with some musical equipment, isolating himself from the outside world and recording his emotions. It's repetitive, slow, and very, very moody. It's not materialistic, it's not made-for-radio, it's not arena rock: it's real, emotionally heavy, down-to-earth emotions. It's cathartic for both listener and musician.

 

It's about melody, sound, and feelings. Broadrick doesn't say a lot, lyrically, because he doesn't have to. He says what he feels, and repeats it in case you wanted to hear it again. His repetition is what makes his songs so hypnotizing. And at six to seven minutes each, you will get lost in the songs. Sounds cliche, I know, but it's true. You will stare out your window and before you know it, you will be transfixed on the trees blowing in the wind, or the leaves falling to the ground, or whatever it is you see out your window. Maybe you will stare blankly at nothing and start imagining yourself walking through a park with your hands in your pockets, watching the ground as you walk, thinking about life. Like a little music video in your head or something.

 

But that's what this music does. The beautiful melodies and soundscapes hypnotize you, put you in a trance that summer songs can't do. This is more serious than Justin Timberlake or Lil Wayne. And sometimes you need something like this for those times in your life when you're serious, when you don't want to hear Lil Wayne rap about ecstasy and oral sex.

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