Jane Doe 69
Scars

March 2000
Released: 2000, Independent
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: Rick

Jane Doe 69 are a band in the vein of Machine Head, Soulfly and all those other "new" metal bands. They hail from Finland and this is the band's fourth independent release. The band consists of Vocals: Mikko Paulin Guitar: Tuomas Kuusinen Guitar: Mika Sääynääjoki Bass: Erno Hyväättinen Drums: Ilkka Lehtonen. They describe themselves like this "Aggressive, crushing modern metal. Angry as hell vocals, skilful drumming and bass that kills. Guitar work based on shit load of strong, sick and brain hammering riffs, melodies and harmonies here and there. Jane Doe 69 shows you the true breaking point." With that introduction from the band lets get right into the release.



"Scars" is a 4 song E.P. produced by Jane Doe and co-produced by Timo Kytöölää. The production is strong for an independent release. The opening track is "Unbroken". A decent track that has some intense drumming by Lehtonen. Track 2 is a ripper called "Lead Blind" . It highlights are some straight ahead riffing and a very heavy drum sound with lots of open high hats. "Wasted" opens with a riff reminiscent of Coal Chamber. Again the highlight of this track is some great drumming by Lehtonen. This guy is great. Finally rounding out the disc is Betrayed. This is possibly the best song on the CD. The vocals are Sepulturaish but the song is probably the least "new" metal sounding overall. The guitar riff is similar in parts to "The Death of Passion" by Nevermore.



If this CD suffers from one thing it’s the fact that Jane Doe 69 don’t have their own sound. There are shades of Sepultura, Machine Head, Soulfly and even a bit of Coal Chamber. They sound like all the other "modern" metal bands out there. Its obvious that they have the musical ability but they are lacking a unique identity.