French coldwave metal band Black Juju Inc have a new album coming out titled “Crosses and Crossroads” which reveal to the listeners the alchemy and the universe of Black Juju Inc. Combining sludge and doom elements with a raw and gutteral sound, the band have been working hard at a sound that borrows influences from such acts as Fear Factory, Pantera and Prong but with a heavy rock edge along the lines of Alice In Chains.
The term “coldwave metal” is not necessarily one that I’m familiar with and my first assumption is that it references an alter ego of the new wave genre that was popularised in the 80’s. Upon digging a little deeper into some research, it turns out it superceeded that era by a few years in France where punk, industrial and goth collided together in a sort of neo-pre-modernist sound that combined eletronic components with dark rock. Black Juju on the other hand, while being labelled in that world, has a more heavier and gutteral approach that features doom sludge and modern rock but there is more to it than that on listening to their album “Crosses and Crossroads” which is as diversified as it is hard to pinpoint it’s style.
Opening track “Gone” is super grove oriented with a bouncy drum beat and some seriously raw guitar sounds eminating through the recording. The kick drums automatically make you want to air drum to the catchy rhythm but the song breaks open midway with a doomy breakdown slicing through like a well sharpened knife, cutting through the mid-tempo and going for a bigger sound that leads to it’s main solo.
That raw sound continues on the aptly titled “Satan Claus” but with a more uptempo feel. The vocalist tries to go for a bit of a Lemmy style singing which surprisingly works well with the music at hand but once the chorus line switches gears with it’s gothic like chant, you forget about that comparison as the song draws you into other areas.
After the sludge heavy and dirty “Green” track, things go in a different direction as the album flows through more melodic passages and industrial tinged groove hitters. “Attractive” is new wavey type stuff with a driving bass line while “Love” captures the spirit and sound of old industrial metal. Some real light stuff appears in the form of the acoustic ballad “Outside” just to vary it up even further and making you rethink if it’s the same album or even band for that matter but the true highlight of the album is the Prong inspired “Dead“, complete with that rhythmic groove that band is known for.
Speaking of Prong, Black Juju Inc even throw in a cover of Prong’s classic “Rude Awakening“, giving it a lighter, acoustic spin for something different yet again. If diversity is what you want, then look no further than “Crosses and Crossroads” but there will still be enough to appease both the new wave stuff or the metal head within.
TRACKLIST
Gone
Satan Claus
Green
Attractive
Love
Outside
Dead
Stone Sawyer
Rude Awakening (Prong cover)
