Javelina - Beasts Among Sheep

Photo by Scott Kinkade
Review by Casey Boland

On its face, there is nothing remarkable about Javelina. You have four dudes hammering out drop-tuned Sabbath-inspired metal. One would be hard-pressed to read reviews that did not niche the band as “sludge,” “stoner,” and “thrash.” Javelina’s debut was more ferocious than most bands operating in the weed-slowed metal style. Beasts Among Sheep (Translation Loss, 2009) tightens its predecessor’s looseness, while displaying more maturity and variety. There is no paucity of hessians attempting this genre, but Javelina adds enough bite to back up the bark.

Towers of Silence

Like most bands who trade in the tried-and-true, the most memorable moments are the atypical ones. When bands deviate from the well-worn path, interesting things can happen. Such is the case with a burly beast called “Towers of Silence.” Bassist Herb leads off with a serpentine melody that slithers nicely with Erik’s Neanderthal pounding. The rest of the band joins in, and the lurching becomes brooding and crushing.

Much of the album fixates on a High on Fire-like rumble, which tends to work. Javelina would benefit from injecting more of the aforementioned tune’s twisted brutality. The band could also use more of the exceptional Iron Maiden-worthy riffing found in “You’re Gonna Hate This” and “Arcadia.” But Javelina is not concerned with innovating or wowing with technical superiority: it seeks to bludgeon. There is a gory beauty to this band. It isn’t perfect, but that which moves us so rarely is.