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Press
Winnipeg band JAW's new album begins with a sweltering rainstorm. No really, it literally begins with a rainstorm. So I was kind of confused. But then I was hit with a thunderous rainstorm of metal. "The Slave" begins the album with an aural assault. To be honest, I had never heard a JAW album before, even though they've been involved in the Winnipeg metal scene for years. The thudding bass lines, the monstrous screaming vocals, the big freakin' guitar riffs all make up the bulk of Swings Humans. There are progressive elements similar to that of Tool, but enough thunderous metal action to make them all their own. Jaw's sound fits into the new school of metal (NOT nu-metal) with the likes of bands like Mastodon and Lamb of God. To be honest, I can't pick out a track that I liked the most. "Kings and Pawns" seems to be the most accessible, but I enjoyed the album more as a whole then any individual track. Swings Humans is a great album that should do big things for this band! Watch Out!
James Korba
Stylus Magazine - Stylus Magazine
Score: A
Like Tool? Then you'll like JAW, a Winnipeg quartet that mixes the experimentation of Maynard James Keenan's Outfit with a little bit of death metal and prog rock. The first thing you'll notice about this disc is that it sounds bitchin', which is due to the fact that the band spent a lot of time on the eight song album and some big-ish names (Sean Thingvold and Greg Reely) mix and master the beast. Best tracks here are The Slave and Of Kings and Pawns, both of which use shifts between clean and hoarse vocals to get things banging. These tracks build to a jagged point, but even the wildest moments maintain melody, making this both heavy as hell but also accessible. This is a concept album, so it's difficult to criticize slower tracks such as the title cut and Begin Again, but this band is at it's best when it lets the heavy sneak up on you and beat you down with a hammer.
Mike Warkentin
Uptown Magazine - Uptown Magazine
Discography
JAW- Self Titled EP (2002)
JAW -Swings Humans LP (2006)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
JAW is power, an unrestrained force possessing an unorthodox songwriting style. Fearless in their innovation and unrepentant in their push for change. Jaw is an inherent talent, a creative David in world of conformist Goliaths.
JAW formed in 2001 when vocalist Emmanuel Olarewaju and guitarist Jason Dokken met through serendipity at a music store in their hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. After months of searching for individuals who shared in their creative vision, Olarewaju and Dokken recruited bassist Pablo Riedel and drummer Kevin Kornelsen. On July 17th 2001, JAW began. Within a few months of forming, the quartet had written a solid set of songs. These songs only scratched the surface of JAWs limitless potential.
JAW recorded their first EP in November 2002. With EP in hand JAW began tirelessly touring the frigid western Canadian plains through to the eastern coast, while periodically dipping into the U.S. JAWs live performance impressed to such an extent that within a year the group had sold over four thousand copies of their self-title EP nation wide.
In the spring of 2004, JAW refocused their attention on writing new material. Meticulously they picked apart every note, every section, and every transition until they were satisfied with the end results. In June of 2005 JAW entered The Space Behind A Garage Studios in Winnipeg, Manitoba with producer/engineer Rob Shallcross (Strapping Young Lad, Gwar, Townsend Band, Darkest Hour, Threat Signal) to record their first full length, Swings Humans. Swings Humans is brutality and peace conveyed through movements, from the grandeur of its mountaintops to the voids of its valleys. Soulful, poetic, graceful and mighty, JAWs Swings Humans reinvents what metal is and can be.
Released on June 24th 2006, Swings Humans immediately received tremendous amounts of both fan and critical acclaim, selling almost a thousand copies in less than two months. The bands press and Internet profiles both continue to grow immensely. Now JAW prepares to cast the stone that brings down our worlds goliaths. IT BEGINS.
JAW isn't just a band you hear, it is a state of mind that you embrace, a source of inner strength that devastates.
I choose to fly past the angst that hold me down and shatter the binds that clasps my wings - JAW
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