JASTA – …And Jasta For All

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7.0

• Bands:
  JASTA
• Duration: 00:32:15
• Available from: 05/17/2024
• Label:

• Perseverance Music Group

For many Jamey Jasta is 'just' the singer of Hatebreed, an artist very connected to the metal and hardcore scene with various musical projects, among which Kingdom Of Sorrow together with Kirk Windstein of Crowbar stand out.
However, a little attention is enough to discover a multifaceted enthusiast, as well as one of the greatest ambassadors of metal today: owner of the Stillborn Records and Perseverance Music Group record labels, of the Hatewear clothing brand and of the Martyr Store merchandise store, host of the legendary MTV show Headbangers Ball from 2003 to 2007, inexhaustible podcaster with over 700 (!) episodes of The Jasta Show, organizer of the Milwaukee Metal Fest and so on and so forth.
After some solo adventures, in recent years the good Jamey has also put together a team with which he proposed himself as an author, writing and producing the solo records of Dee Snider of Twisted Sister (“For The Love Of Metal”, 2018 and Leave A Scar”, 2021) and George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher of Cannibal Corpse (“Corpsegrinder”, 2022), until arriving at the last eruption of momentum, always the result of the love for all-round metal music: “…And Jasta For All” comes out under the name Jasta but it is a record explicitly dedicated to thrash metal, written by a thrash metal fan and assisted by huge names who have written the history of the genre.
In partnership with the trusted Bellmore brothers – Nick on drums and Charlie on guitar, who played in Toxic Holocaust and the aforementioned Kingdom Of Sorrow – this sort of spin-off dedicated to thrash confirms not only how extensive the writing skills of the 'Jasta team' but also how, being the genre more suited to the composers than classic metal and death metal, the results are probably the best ever collected.
We start off very strong with “They See Us As Prey”, one of the most structured and successful pieces on the album, which like a time machine takes us to the 80s with speed, tempo changes, a Jasta who shows off a slightly more graver than usual and holds its own on the melodic, as well as inspired riffs and solos in abundance. You will also immediately notice a nice bass highlight, certainly an irreverent joke if referring to the artwork and the title.
“Armor Your Mind” is again very fast and interspersed with solos, with the frontman taking the song into crossover thrash territory with hardcore vocals and a live-sized choir. We then arrive at the climax of the album, with a poker of thrilling features: “Create The Now” makes Chuck Billy's task easy with a riff and a very Testament rhythm section, “RMPC” sees Scott 'Not' Ian of Anthrax in a song with multiple faces, “Suicidality” winks at the Suicidal Tendencies crossover by hosting a Phil Demmel always in form and finally “Assimilation Agenda” lines up a good riff, a memorable chorus and a destructive breakdown exploiting the contrast between the voice of Jasta and that of Zetro from Exodus, probably the best piece on the album.
The second part of the album does not feature the same parade of guests but is still well done, with notable highlights such as the wild “No Dream Is Free” or the final “The Phoenix Way”, in which the vocal interweavings are certainly reminiscent of Trivium.
As you may have understood, we are certainly faced with a project born out of passion and fun, which has no problem letting its sources of inspiration emerge and shine, often directly involving the protagonists.
At times Jasta loses focus a bit and the hardcore/metalcore part of Hatebreed comes to the surface, making us lose a bit of that suspension of disbelief that makes us relive the golden era of thrash in this tribute, but I'm still minor defects of a solid and enjoyable album, which in just over half an hour certainly cannot bore.