Jagged Doctrine is an industrial metal project that has reactivated after a 9-year hiatus to bring us their latest offering “Eve of Destruction” on Roxx Records. Formed in the late 90s as a collaboration between guitarist Rod Middleton and keyboardist Gary Baker, they have roots in industrial metal that has an experimental bend. Connecting the dots, this project has a truly independent spirit with a significant independently released discography staying true to their vision for JD. As such, I would say you should approach this project with and open mind. Besides this project, Rod and Gary have collaborated on various other musical projects including licensing tracks for MTV and composing a sound track for a book series.
“Eve of Destruction” continues the intermingling of electronica and heavy metal into a unique blend that is a throwback to the 90s with a slight tinge of avant-garde. Rod and Gary have recruited the inimitable talents of Dale Thompson (Bride) to take on the lead vocals for this album, while they focused on weaving the industrial complex underneath. There is a sizable guest list of musicians contributing to the recording, some of which are attached to the progressive metal band Perspective X IV which might or might not be working on new material.
The album starts off with “Die Again” that is built around a solid guitar riff. As the song develops, shades of 90s nu-metal come through with only a hint of the electronic elements. The song has high energy and showcases some capable rhythm guitar work, even if riffs at times feel repetitive. Dale’s voice fits into the mix like a glove. The next song “Deleterious” has a similar feel but introduces significantly more synthesizer giving more of their characteristic industrial style. Even in the more industrial style, Dale holds his own delivering a solid performance. The title track “Eve of Destruction” takes a slight turn into doom territory with the plodding tempo. This song has a nicely fit guitar riff underlying it and the use of contrasting mellow sections we didn’t get in the first two tracks.
At this point we get a clear picture of JD’s sound. The first three tracks feel pretty standard metal fare, but as the rest of the album unfolds I detect more experimentation. “Liquid Sky” makes use of chromaticism creating an almost middle-eastern feel to the track. Syd Rentz (Morella Forest) lends her voice to help give a smooth fluid sound to a song that flows like water, but struggles to move anywhere. “Dream Tonight” makes more use of synth and brief major/happier elements to give the song a more dreamlike quality. “Love Song For Anger” has JD in a proto-punk style with a faster pace and has the lone guitar solo on the album which is quite a squiggly technical affair. One of the songs where their style really shines is “This is My Destiny.” It starts with a solid mechanized industrial feel in the vein of Nine Inch Nails. The drums are not the typical metal drum kit which adds to the dystopian feel. The breakdown adds great musical value to the song.
There isn’t a standard instrumentation of JD in that the guitars can go from being the driving force to background and the electronic force can shift from industrial to light accents. The vocals swing from being distorted to being without effects and all of these elements can have several layers. The musical expression for JD is based in experimentation in sound rather than a carefully orchestrated composition, writing more from the mind than from the heart. We can see this with the guests that contributed to the album. I cannot tell the guests’ contributions apart from Rod’s and Gary’s. With so much material being added in the songs, sometimes it suffers from being too busy and can be disorienting. The breakdowns are actually quite helpful musically to reorient the listener and maybe should have been used more liberally. Some editing or even simplifying in places would help the overall cohesion of the album.
At the end of the day, JD has produced a solid industrial metal debut for Roxx. It is refreshing to hear a band experiment openly and not conform to what everyone else is doing. After listening through a couple of times, I can say it is a good balance between the heavy metal and the electronic elements. I would be interested to see how they will build off of this release. Recommended for fans of 90s style industrial or nu-metal.
Rating: 7.5/10
Written by Sean Bailey
Tracklist
1 – Die Again
2 – Deleterious
3 – Eve of Destruction
4 – Breathe Your Name
5 – Liquid Sky
6 – Dream Tonight
7 – This is My Destiny
8 – Love Song for Anger
9 – Absolution
10 – To the Beginning
Jagged Doctrine is:
Rod Middleton – guitars, bass, keys, drums, vocals
Gary Baker – keys, drums, background vocals
Additional Musicians:
Dale Thompson – lead vocals on all tracks
Syd Rentz – vocals on “Liquid Sky”
Gregg Hart – keys on “Die Again”, “Eve of Destruction”, “Breathe Your Name”, “This is My Destiny”
Chris Matthews – bass on “Die Again.”
Lee Bond – bass on “This is My Destiny”
Ben Burton – additional drums on “Die Again”
Release Date: September 29, 2023
Record Label: Roxx Records
Discography:
Welcome to the Playground (1999)
Darkness Wrapped in Plastic (2003)
The Stalker (2011)
To Whom it May Concern (2012)
Black Red White – The Circle Trilogy (2013)
Electrocuted (2014)
Eve of Destruction (2023)
Social Media: Facebook | Bandcamp
Video for ‘Breath Your Name’
Video for ‘Die Again’
