Jesu Jesu 2LP

Justin K. Broadrick started the Jesu project in 2003, and Jesu has gone on to be as critically acclaimed and loved as his previous project, Godflesh. Jesu is credited as being at the forefront, if not the very beginning, of the post-metal movement and the hybridization of metal and shoegaze.

The self-titled Jesu album was the first full-length from the project, debuting on the legendary Hydra Head Records in 2004. It is heralded as a classic album. It has been out of print for many years.

This is the standard 2LP reissue, remastered by Justin K. Broadrick in 2021.

Jesu does indeed come off like therapy through sound, as lying under the surface of these bleak dirges lies an elegiac subcurrent than can be as uplifting as the angelic hymns of Sigur Rós....The songs here seek to render rib cages and remove still-beating hearts for close inspection, to discover the exact nature and location of the human soul, even if it means sure death in the process. Bludgeoning down-tuned slowcore metal, electronic noise squalls and squelch, droning organs sounding like church bells, hair-raising discordant synth stabs, martial drumming and fuzzed-out electronic rhythms, and indecipherable ennui-laden vocals all serve to cater to fans of the experimental metal of bands like Isis, Neurosis, and Pelican. Another unlikely comparison is the Cure's Pornography, with its layers and layers of echo, dense guitar and keyboard textures, funereal pace, and vocals saturated with existential dread....Jesu's trip is a dark and lonely one, but those who survive the path through darkness are granted a glimpse of the light at journey's end.