Australian band JACK THE STRIPPER was formed almost a decade ago, and appears to have made quite a name for themselves in the years that followed, seeing that they this year are touring in both Europe and Japan. So far they have two releases to their name, an initial EP released in 2009 and this album, their debut “Raw Nerve” from 2013. As the band have been working on a new album since 2015, one might imagine that a second studio album isn’t all that far away from being ready for release.
As fvar as the music is concerned, this is one of those albums that are metal through and through. The kind of CD that would make even those not at all familiar with metal as a musical expression to firmly nod and conclude that aye, this is indeed metal. Or, possibly, such a person might just plainly describe it as noise, as Jack the Stripper’s brand of metal is just about as extreme as the origins of their band name.
The core identity creator, for me at least, are the lead vocals. Vocalist Luke comes across as a rather angry man, relentlessly delivering the lyrics as either twisted hardcore style shouted screams or primal, guttural extreme metal snarling shouts, and actually more often than not combining these modes into a frantic, menacing delivery. This is pure aggression and distilled anger in vocal shape, and this is a dominating trait throughout, just about the sole exception is the almost instrumental opening title cut Raw Nerve.
While the vocals are extreme, the music isn’t all that far behind in that department. The band appears to, operate out from a foundation of hardcore oriented thrash metal, possibly what genre purists would describe as metalcore I’d imagine. They expand the scopes by including a fair array of bouncy, monumental djent-tinged guitar details, occasional forays into more regular but intense thrash metal as well as a token few instances of a slower paced, monumental and majestic doom metal interlude here and there. The more intense and frantic elements dominate rather firmly though, and they aren’t alien to the use of abrasive, noise filled twisted instrument effects either. One instance of a more industrial metal oriented interlude, another of a more gentle and almost psychedelic tinged opening passage and also a couple of brief and gentle atmospheric laden inserts documents that the band know and can master a much broader scope of music than explored on this album, but in this context these are tiny exceptions that may or may not reveal something about where the band is venturing next time around more than they are an expansion of the context of this specific album.
Those who have a strong affection for intense and frantic metal of the kind that incorporates the aggression from hardcore and distills it into an at times abrasive and chaotic metal context, lightly flavored with djent details and vibrant, aggressive thrash metal, should find Jack the Stripper to be a band worth spending some time with. One of the more purebred aggressive albums I’ve come across so far in life.
My rating: 76/100
