Beautiful Terror
Dwasek | Hyattsville, MD | 04/10/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Jucifer's beautifully raw and complete masterpiece depicting Marie Antoinette and events leading to the Reign of Terror punches you hard in the gut, then gently kisses you as you fall. You'll feel your bones crunching under chords of sickening despair, and the most melodic moments will have you tearfully soaring with hope and glimmering beauty."
They Finally Did It!
deesonic | Alabama | 12/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've seen these guys (guy and gal) play probably a 1/2 dozen times. They are a sight to behold live. I think it was 1998 at the Soul Bar in Augusta, Georgia the first time I accidentally walked into their wall of noise. It was a mind blow! They were incredibly loud and unbridled. Ed was a maniac destroying his helpless kit. Amber was sweet and scary, beautiful and hideous all at once. Pretty amazing. Later I moved up to Athens and saw them a handful more times and always was blown away. However, I've been disappointed with their albums...until this one. Man they've finally made the album that captures their split personality sound quite well here. The traditional Melvins/Sabbath sludge is still there with Amber's sweet vocals over the wall of noise. At some points they approach a heavy indie guitar pop sound like early Replacements with female vocals. Then unexpectedly Napalm Death-like grindcore crashes the party. But then they move abrubtly yet effortlessly into acoustic balladry. They switch gears on this album very similarly too another favorite band of mine, Opeth. Although Jucifer tend to change gears from song to song rather than within a single song like Opeth. Anyway, this is by far their best album to date and most ambitious. Highly recommended!"
From Silence to Screams
Loring D. Wirbel | Colorado Springs, CO United States | 10/25/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Even if you're not a metal or experimental-noise fan, you'll want to own this - particularly in double pink vinyl. Amber knows how to go to extremes of decibels and silence in the way King Crimson did during their "Red/Starless" period. And the quieter acoustic periods capture with grace the sense of Marie Antoinette awaiting a certain fate. Sometimes when you see Jucifer's wall of amps, you wonder if the duo knows how to be subtle. They know, and show it here. This is not as much a soundtrack album for The Terror, as it is a soundtrack for Thermidor, the post-Terror period when aristocratic youth went around beating up the sans-culotte Jacobins and poor (note that one track even refers to Thermidor). Does it sound like an 18th-century Clockwork Orange? So does Jucifer. Steam punks unite."
Track Listings (21) - Disc #1