When opening track "Heavy, Kickin' A" starts, I'm immediately hypnotised, as the immersive riff and rhythm has my attention right from the start. JESTERS OF DESTINY are a LA band that actually was around from 1983 until 1988, and released the album "Fun At The Funeral" (1986) during that time. After that they must have done other things that didn't satisfy them, as in 2015 they decided to start up again. After releasing "The Sorrows That Refuse To Drown" in 2017 they are now bringing us "Distorting Everything", released on October 25^th, 2022.

Like I mentioned, the first song "Heavy, Kickin' A" is mesmerising, with hypnotic riffs and rhythms, plus the right kind of (almost spoken) vocals on top. It's what makes music interesting, adventurous and exciting, having the right combination within a song. The same goes for "Luxifur", a song about a furry pet, and "Anna Bella". They carry the same vibes, are interesting, but also top notch in quality. So, no qualms about anything up to this point. After these songs, though, the atmosphere changes. That's when JESTERS OF DESTINY start strolling all over the place.

Not only do you get Party Rock, but also some more weird sh*t, that hardly makes any sense. Just listen to "Caregivers and Caretakers". It's a long song without any substance, it just dabbles along. Even when it gets loud, it doesn't turn into anything tangible, enjoyable. And it goes on like that for the rest of the album, although I can't deny that the Southern Rock vibe that "New Black Pants" has didn't get me interested. But when the song takes off, again, it's just too insignificant. And there is the crux of the better part of the album, the quality just isn't there. It's like the band needed stuff to fill an album, so they got high and recorded whatever they thought was acceptable. Well, it might have been for JESTERS OF DESTINY, but alas, not for me, the listener. Thankfully "Distorting Everything" is blessed with a proper production, otherwise it would have been even worse.

I am really sorry I can't make any more out of "Distorting Everything". I have tried, but it just doesn't cut it for me. If only JESTERS OF DESTINY had maintained the musical style, quality and intensity that the first three songs demonstrate, I would have really loved "Distorting Everything". Now I think it should have been an EP.