Walls of Jericho – Redemption

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Trustkill Records
Produced by Corey Taylor

An EP of melodic, mostly acoustic material is certainly not what fans of metalcore outfit Walls of Jericho have come to expect and the result could go one of two ways. It’s either going to be a disaster, or it’s going to be magnificent.

Redemption is firmly of the latter status. With a little help from Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor lending his voice to three songs, as well as producing the disc, they’ve created something not incredibly far away from Stone Sour’s melodic material. Acoustic without being soft; melodic while retaining the dark, brooding feel of a metal band. A triumph in every sense.

More expansive arrangements add grandeur to the songs as well, with liberal use of keys, strings and other instrumentation around the core guitar, bass and drums, including some lead electric guitar in No Saving Me and Addicted, one of the three to feature Taylor, and some background distorted chords in the latter part of My Last Stand. Indeed every track is excellent – so much so that the weakest one is the cover of legendary Animals hit House of The Rising Sun.

Disappointingly only being issued digitally in Europe, but on CD in North America, it’s available fairly cheaply on import at the usual online stores. It’s also somewhat disappointing that this isn’t what Walls of Jericho produce all the time, because it’s outstanding. Here’s to what could have been…

“ expansive arrangements ”

Tracklist: Ember Drive / My Last Stand / No Saving Me / House of The Rising Sun / Addicted

Written by Andy Lye
More: Alternative, EPs, Other, Walls of Jericho