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True to their name, JIVEBOMB are an explosion of energy. Since forming in 2021 as a lockdown project to keep active and making music, they’ve released a demo, EP and now their debut album Ethereal, along with near-constant touring to keep spreading the good word. That included a spot at last year’s Flatspot World in London, where they caused a ruckus with their powerviolence-inspired heavy hardcore. Hailing from Baltimore, there’s been a lot of expectation on them given the city’s long tradition of producing excellent hardcore bands from TURNSTILE to TRAPPED UNDER ICE.
Thankfully, Ethereal is the big creative step the band needed to take to level up their game from Primitive Desires, their previous EP and first release on Flatspot Records. Ethereal is meaner, heavier and experiments with harsh noise much more than before, developing more experimental and textured soundscapes. That said, JIVEBOMB are still a hardcore band and do offer up some fantastic heavy hitters, and the powerviolence influence is still writ large across its ten song, 15-minute runtime.
Such a short runtime makes it impossible for Ethereal to outstay its welcome, and JIVEBOMB pack as much energy as they can into every moment. The Impact opens with samples and feedback before exploding into life, with Estrela continuing the pummelling assault. It’s totally at odds with an album called Ethereal, but in our conversation with vocalist Kat Medeira – whose guttural roar is a real standout across the album – she explained that the lyrics of the album are far more in line with it. Inspired by spirituality, poetry and more, it’s juxtaposed against the music itself.
It shows that JIVEBOMB have come an awful long way since those lockdown practice room sessions. The hip-hop beat sample that closes Survival Ain’t Taught is another indication of the breadth of their sound if you dig beneath the surface, while Fate’s Domain revels in a sludgy atmosphere before Rhythm Zero is anything but, a breakneck, thrashy shot to the arm with more than a hint of crossover DNA in the vein of PEST CONTROL. It shows a canny command of pacing and how to structure an album regardless of runtime.
Not a single song hits the two-minute mark, making Ethereal a brutish, sledgehammer attack of an album that isn’t interested in sticking around, nor subtlety in its thundering, grinding riffs, battering ram drums or guttural barks. Smartly, JIVEBOMB know to keep it brief with such a deceptively simplistic approach regardless of the harsh noise elements or influences from sludge, crossover and powerviolence. It means Ethereal never gets a chance to grow stale, and continues to cement them as one of Baltimore hardcore’s brightest new bands.
Rating: 8/10
Ethereal is out now via Flatspot Records.
Follow JIVEBOMB on Instagram.
The post ALBUM REVIEW: Ethereal – Jivebomb appeared first on Distorted Sound Magazine.
