About.com Rating



Some albums grab you around the throat and bludgeon you right in the face. Others wind their way into you in a subtle way, taking a while to absorb their full impact. Jesu's latest effort falls into the latter category.

Conqueror is generally slow paced and even mellow at times, but still has moments of aggression. It combines beauty and angst, darkness and light, yin and yang into an album with a lot of emotional force.


The songs have a doom metal vibe with slow, down tuned guitars. You'll also hear influences from the '90s shoegaze movement and some modern experimental metal and drone flourishes incorporated into the music as well.

Justin Broadrick's vocals provide a nice counterpoint to the dirge-like music. His voice is earnest and adds some brightness to the sometimes depressing tone of the songs. Sometimes solemn and serious, other times melodic and optimistic, Conqueror is an album that unfolds a little more each time you listen to it, until you finally absorb all the depth and subtleties within.