More miss than hit, Jurojin is an admirable experiment that, on this evidence, doesn’t quite work.

Now here’s an intriguing proposition – a power quartet, blending the talents of a ‘metal’ guitarist, jazz bass player, rock vocalist and a classical Indian tabla player.

Formed in 2008, Jurojin made their mark on the musical firmament in 2008, building up a live reputation playing their own gigs and supporting the likes of Sevendust. Which brings us to their debut release, produced by Drew Mazurek of Linkin Park/Him fame.

But enough of the blurb - what of the actual release itself? Instrumental opener ‘Ingress’ and ‘The Scars’ do little to impress and offer nothing you haven’t heard before – by the numbers modern ‘metal,’ although the vocalist sounds not a million miles from Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan (which is in no way a bad thing). ‘The Liar’ does little to raise the bar, with still no hint of any asian influences and certainly nothing unique to set it aside from a myriad of other acts.

It isn’t until ‘Proem’ that things get interesting, with the wonderful sounds of the tabla making a welcome appearance, set to good effect against the acoustic guitar, though one can’t help feeling that this combination doesn’t mix with the vocal style. In short, Jurojin take themselves far too seriously, as evidenced on the introverted ‘The Winter.’ You can’t fault the musicianship on display, but the material lacks any real bite or direction. The unmistakeable sounds of the tabla reappear on ‘The Equinox,’ but by now seem to be there more for effect than bringing any real value to the material.

By final track ‘The Dreaming’ it’s a case of too little too late. Again, it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Like oil and water, metal riffs interspersed with ambient style jazz infused moments just don’t, in this instance anyway, seem to mix.

More miss than hit, Jurojin is an admirable experiment that, on this evidence, doesn’t quite work. Better luck next time.

B.A.Boon