ALBUM REVIEW: Duél – Jinjer

Despite a non-stop schedule, JINJER have managed to cultivate yet another banger album with Duél. By record five and with such a hectic amount going on around them, you’d forgive JINJER for maybe phoning it in on this one. That’s the polar opposite of where they’re at, however, with an album filled back-to-back with energy, fresh ideas and more than enough power to feel genuinely exciting.

You’ll need to be fully braced when you start this record, make no mistake there. Battering drums and a sizzling riff punch you right into the thrilling Tantrum. Start to finish, it’s evident there’s a drive to push the progressive and genre blending boundaries even further on Duél. From the bass grooves and serene vocals, to the monstrous simplicity of Fast Draw, which pushes into hardcore areas we’ve never heard from JINJER. The rest of the record holds just as many fresh approaches with songs like A Tongue So Sly. It is exciting that there’s still so much for JINJER to explore with their sound, that they’re not afraid of adding more to their sound and style, while not looking to overhaul what they’ve build already.

JINJER’s signature tone and melodies hold up in these new tracks, from Hedonist and title track Duél. There’s expression throughout each instrument, with lead focus feeling very much in the strings this time around. The drums lay a beautiful echo to the rest of the instrumentation, never overstepping but adding delightful texture in the groove soup.

With their more melodic durges to the ferocious Kafka, which hits with both barrels (and both kick drums) with punishing rhythms, the record seemingly has no weak point in its bullet hard offering. Tumbleweed is also an interesting, doom adjacent style that you simply wouldn’t have put in JINJER’s wheelhouse.

Metaphor and symbolism is also the primary colours of Tatiana Shmayluk’s writing. Green Serpent and Dark Bile both manage to marry poignancy without being overbearing for those who are mostly here for the music. Likewise, Someone’s Daughter is a great track in its own right, and is only boosted in it’s merit by the themes it tackles. It’s also a given that Shmayluk’s vocals are as phenomenal as ever, utterly desolating on second, and symphonically harmonic the next. In fact, the harmony goes right through into all instrumental elements too; the band have really hunkered into that groove and funk that people love, and by keeping the core of their sound solid, they’ve allowed the intensity to shift into these new and untapped areas.

While JINJER haven’t broken the mould on this one, they have bent it in ways you wouldn’t have expected. Lots of solid material will keep die-hard fans satisfied, as each song is a solid piece of work in its own right. Though there’s no big ‘wow’ moment on Duél, the more creative genre-fusing will intrigue you at worse, or at best, make you feel very excited about what JINJER still have up their sleeves.

Rating: 7/10

Duél is set for release on February 7th via Napalm Records

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