Review by Tammy Lomax for MPM
Wallflowers’ is the recent album released from four-piece progressive groove metallers Jinjer.Ukrainian based, the band have experimented throughout the years and have proven they are very versatile in all aspects of the music they create.
Originally formed by previous vocalist Maksym Fatullaiev in 2009, Jinjer were concreted officially in 2010 when new vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk took position.
The quartet won Best Ukrainian Metal Band in 2013 and went onto winning it again a few years later, their strong position within the metal scene obviously will continue to grow because Jinjer holds a determined attitude. This militant determination has built them a very successful reputation, the key to any success is to truly believe in what you are doing but more importantly, have the right ‘will do’ mindset.
The group have also been very successful booking their own shows and dipping their toes into the international touring market, basically, it’s Jinjer’s way or the highway. They caught the attention of Napalm Records in 2016 who then signed them in combination with their third album release ‘King Of Everything’. Now, let’s fast forward to March 2021 when Jinjer began working on their fourth release, ‘Wallflowers’.
This album is definitely hard hitting, a huge bonfire of intensity. It opens with ‘Call Me A Symbol’and this track does not mess around. The stretched forceful vocals collide with the down tuned guitar tones perfectly, before switching to a more groovy metal just over half way, opening an album with any umph has a big impact, it’s a huge thumbs up.
Tatiana Shmailyuk is a lady of many talents, her flexibility between her ranges are influential,she bounces from high tension vocals then drops into deeper more guttural states, touching upon the cleaner clearer vocals in sections. Compared to previous releases like ‘Inhale, Do Not Breathe’ the unrelenting graft to perfect these vocals does not go undetected.
‘Vortex’ is a hot track, it’s one of my favourites on the album, alongside ‘Pearls And Swine’ and ‘As I Boil Ice’. When it comes to progressive groove metal I believe there needs to be controlled chaos, to pull it off requires serious attention to detail and talent. ‘Wallflower’ is probably the gentle track on the album, as the clear vocals and slow channels make the lyrics and the overall atmosphere feel emotional.
In conjunction with the rest of the album, ‘Mediator’ is categorically the heavyweight track, it closes the album on an absolute high. It is a fine offering of pure energy and sheer aggression, I almost hear hints of grindcore which is exciting but without question this track will give your head and ears a downright battering.
The album has a great balance and shows their multi-faceted approach, strip it right back and you can hear the mammoth amount of textures and layers that have been yielded together to give the all-embracing sound some girth and weight.
Like the real heavy guitar riffs, they are flourishing in every track working alongside that lovely bass tone, the time signature changes and drum patterns are incredibly precise too. ‘Wallflowers’ is compacted with nothing but pure talent and Jinjer have excelled themselves here.
