Job For A Cowboy Release First Track in 9 Years - 'The Agony Seeping Storm'
Today is a momentous day for progressive-death metal. Arizonian band Job For A Cowboy have returned with brand new music for the first time in nine whole years. You might want to read that one again.
The revival of the genre-defining group occurred over the past year as the group announced their return with a performance at Blue Ridge Rock Festival in the U.S. which is just a week or so away. Of course, the upcoming show has sent a lot of long-time fans into mass hysteria.
For a bit of background, Job For A Cowboy swarmed onto the MySpace scene in 2005 with their debut EP Doom where they started as a deathcore band and would have been genre peers with the likes of Mitch Lucker's Suicide Silence and the early days of Whitechapel. In fact, they were one of the first bands I heard with 'pig squeal' vocals.
The band then dropped the breakdowns for LP #1 Genesis and narrowed down into death metal. They then got more technical over the years with records Ruination, and Demoncracy before calling it quits following 2014's Sun Eater after evolving to become well-known as a prog-death metal band.
With whispers of new music for years, they've finally done it ahead of their imminent return to the stage. Job For A Cowboy have released new single 'The Agony Seeping Storm'. The four-minute track kicks in a deep prog-intro creating mystery of where it will go next. Rather immediately, the band dial up the tempo into death metal overdrive with Jonny Davy's vocal range driving the rhythm.
On the new track and incoming video, Davy shares:
"‘The Agony Seeping Storm’ gives a slice of our upcoming concept record. Regarding the video, the band collaborated extensively with director K. Hunter Lumar (Digital Mile), while our bassist, Nick Schendzielos, co-directed. The concept was inspired by a close friend who embarked on a relentless quest for profound enlightenment through the incessant abuse of hallucinogenic drugs. However, as they delved deeper into their religious-like experimentation they began exhibiting symptoms of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. They came to believe that they could access an alternate, esoteric reality through hallucinogenic intoxication, where they encountered gnostic and biblical figures and imagery. These songs reflect their thoughts, ideas, and experiences.”
The riffs are delicious and the modern recording technology is noted given the decade shift. With demonic vocal sections from Tony Sannicandro and ominous single strums to characterise tempo shifts, the band are truly reinvigorating where they left off in 2014. A new as-yet-untitled full-length is on the way too, so it's a great time to be a fan!
Welcome back Job For A Cowboy.
Words by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)
Stream 'The Agony Seeping Storm' here
