My first impression of Cassius is "Oh no, not another metalcore band." As time wears on, I hope that a lot of the kids in these bands wake up and stop perpetuating a mostly tired genre. Cassius at least does a solid job of playing in the genre. They also bring refreshing brevity to their songwriting and arrangements.
I must admit that I am rather struck by the laid back nature of "Semitone." When "Homeauxthug" begins, I realize that, yeah, this is another metalcore record. The vocalist does showcase an impressive range of screaming tones and such. There are a few melodic runs on I Am Jim Jones. "Skingraft" has some nice melodic passages that break from the "chugga chugga" parts. The best part about I Am Jim Jones would be the brevity of the songs. It works to Cassius' favor. They do not dwell on specific guitar parts for too long and deftly change paces so as not to lose the concentrated oomph that the album packs. The band also, thankfully, does not rely on clean vocals to accentuate melody; they simply pummel the listener from start to finish. Even during the mellow part in "Tale of the Leper", Cassius does not fall into temptation (the whole time, I was cringing with the anticipation of hearing a cheesy clean vocal part). I do like some of the ambient noise and electronics that the group uses in the beginning of "Elate and Subtract." The song is a throwback to pieces like Zao used for the introduction to Liberate Te Ex Inferis. "Funeral March" has some interesting vocal treatments and guitar breaks. This is a song that I can point to as being a bit more original; it is a definite bright spot on I Am Jim Jones.
Cassius is above all a metalcore band. However, if they continue to add different elements to their music as they do in "Elate and Subtract" and "Funeral March", then the band may really have a shot at doing something more unique and original. But for now, Cassius offers a solid effort in I Am Jim Jones.
