Jinjer – ‘Wallflowers’ [Album Review]

Apart from possibly Spiritbox, there can’t be a more hotly-anticipated album release this year than this one. With the release of Wallflowers, their fourth recording, Ukrainian quintet Jinjer is ready to become a powerhouse in the modern metal scene.

A beautifully crafted piece of art, where Wallflowers succeeds over other similar albums is the fact that, despite being delivered with clinical precision, there is so much heart and emotion pouring through the veins of this album. Take “Vortex” as an example, prior to the third track on the record, vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk has primarily made use of her more extreme range, however, as “Vortex” opens, you really hear her vocal depth as she blends some truly beautiful cleans with her incredible throat-shredding screams. Matching her, the band lurch from thunderous, jarring tech-metal to calmer passages as, up there with anything by the likes of tech-metal giants like Meshuggah, Jinjer make those switches sound so simple.

Keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout, if it’s not Shmayluk’s spine-breaking howls or her delicious cleans, then the Ukrainian quintet will leave you slack-jawed as they lurch and barrel between mindbending djenty/tech/prog mash-ups and face-mauling metalcore. Unpredictable, one minute the likes of “Pearls and Swine” are pummelling you in the ribs then, before you have time to catch up with yourself, the air is filled with those serene sounds that Jinjer inject into their music so effortlessly. An album that has so much crammed into it without sounding bloated, Wallflowers is the kind of album that demands your attention throughout but will reward you with a life-changing experience around every corner.

A modern-metal masterpiece, Wallflowers has set the bench ridiculously high for any band who thinks they’ve got the balls to take on this Ukrainian powerhouse. Whereas the likes of Meshuggah and Gojira have owned this whole genre for as long as you can remember, the release of the jaw-dropping Wallflowers has put Jinjer right in the mix. An absolutely perfect release in every way.

Wallflower Track Listing:

1. Call Me a Symbol
2. Colossus
3. Vortex
4. Disclosure!
5. Copycat
6. Pearls and Swine
7. Sleep of the Righteous
8. Wallflower
9. Dead Hands Feel No Pain
10. As I Boil Ice
11. Mediator

Run Time: 47:21
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Record Label: Napalm Records