Brown Jenkins - Death Obsession

November 23, 2009

Reviewer: Matt

Brown Jenkins was a short-lived project from Texas, U.S. that split up shortly after recording Death Obsession, their second album and the follow up to 2008’s Angel Eyes.

I read a few pieces about Angel Eyes last year and I remember it being well-received, despite the relatively little ink devoted to it by the metal press.  Those of you who heard and enjoyed that debut full length will enjoy Death Obsession as well, as Brown Jenkins altered little in their sound for this album.  The arrangements are busier, with more layers of guitar noise and less repetition of individual riffs, and the production is thinner and more akin to the black metal aesthetic than the crushing wall of noise of Angel Eyes.  And though the songs are substantially longer (Brown Jenkins adds over twenty minutes to the same number of tracks), the approach is practically identical.

For those who didn’t hear Angel Eyes, Brown Jenkins, named after a character from a Lovecraft piece, play the kind of black metal heavily influenced by Burzum’s self-titled over an early death doom rhythmic framework and topped off with sparse, cavernous vocals.  The hazy production and simultaneously swirling and chugging riffs invoke the psychedelic paranoia of Sleep or Om.  It’s a strange album, one of the more unique interpretations of black/doom or depressive black metal (either label is fairly accurate) you’re likely to hear. 

The song titles (“Lifetaker”, “Lords of Suicide”, “We Disappear”) would seem to indicate that Death Obsession is a morbid, depressive album, but the atmosphere evoked is one of psychotic torment.  The concept and aesthetic is intense and harrowing and is definitely the album’s best attribute.  As stated above, this time out Brown Jenkins utilize a greater variety of riffs, and the frequent, well-executed transitions make for an enjoyable listening experience.  But the riffs aren’t terribly distinct from one another, and the composition lacks a conceptual core.  By the third or fourth track Brown Jenkins has used every tool in their toolbelt, but the album keeps up the same mid-paced jamming for the next thirty minutes.  It’s not that Death Obsession wears out its welcome; it just doesn’t really do anything or go anywhere.  There’s a startling lack of dynamics.  Brown Jenkins I suspect was aiming for a ritualistic effect, but, in the way of most unremarkable bands, incorrectly assume that emulating the aesthetic of their primarily influences will yield an album of the caliber of those artists’ albums.  Brown Jenkins tried to make ritual music by making an album that sounds like Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Holy Mountain.  But those albums weren’t ritualistic because of how they sounded, but because the songwriting was in the form of a mantra - repetitions of riffs developing a theme, a worldview.  Brown Jenkins never really nailed that last element.  There are numerous interesting riffs, but the arrangement is vague and directionless.

Death Obsession isn’t a bad release by any measure.  Brown Jenkins was an authentic and talented act, but unfortunately was somewhat misguided.  It’s definitely a worthwhile purchase for those who liked Angel Eyes, and those who want to hear a pretty good black/doom hybrid could do far worse than Death Obsession. 

Release Date: November 24, 2009
Label: Moribund Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Breathless
2.  Ashes in her Mouth
3.  Lifetaker
4.  Lords of Suicide
5.  Hopeless, Godlike
6.  Bluebird
7.  We Disappear

Total playing time: 64:45

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