Nov 2

Nov 2 Show Review: Jinjer Deliver Gripping Live Show at Sacramento's Ace of Spades

Jinjer
w/ Suicide Silence, All Hail The Yeti
Ace of Spades
Sacramento, CA
October 28th, 2021

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

Once in a while, a band will come along within a genre that takes me completely by surprise. They play with the intensity of a headlining act, yet it appears that they have come from literally nowhere. While Jinjer have been around since as far back as 2009, they really only started to come into the forefront of the metal scene in the last few years. To date, they’ve released four studio albums, including this year’s Wallflowers, the album that the band are currently touring across the U.S. to support. While the album’s title sounds innocuous, the band are anything but “wallflowers”. The Ukranian four-piece was front-and-center last Thursday night for a sold-out headlining show at Sacramento’s Ace of Spades.

The support acts on this particular tour only enhanced the excitement of what was to come later in the evening. All Hail The Yeti kicked off the night on a stage adorned with greenery and faux-animal skulls, and imagery that further enhanced the band’s live show. The Los-Angeles based heavy metal quartet ripped through a half-hour set with machine-like prowess and magnitude, cementing them as a force to be reckoned within the heavy metal community. Scene veterans Suicide Silence took the stage for what I would consider a “greatest-hits” set. Sure, they pulled material from some of their more recent offerings (the band’s 2017 self-titled album and 2020’s Become The Hunter). But when you choose to open a show with your three of your heaviest-hitting tracks (“Unanswered”, “You Only Live Once”, and “Disengage”), you make it clear that you’re there to do one thing only: get the crowd as rowdy and hyped up as possible for the headliner. The death core quintet’s performance was definitely a highlight of the evening.

Jinjer came on stage around 9:30 amidst a stage washed out with strobe lights and color fills. From the second they hit the stage, they wasted no time, jumping straight into “Call Me A Symbol”, with vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk holding the crowd at her will with every scream and vocal riff she delivered. Similar to a lot of shows I’ve seen in recent days, there wasn’t a lot of talking in between songs; it was song after song after song, with a couple of small interludes to say hello to the crowd or thank the openers. While Jinjer is able to write memorable vocal lines and choruses, they are another act that is incredible to watch from a technical point of view. Their songs are layered with running bass lines, intricate guitar work, and progressive-style drumming. After sixteen songs, Jinjer took their final bows for the evening, leaving a packed Sacramento house satisfied and truly impressed with what they had just witnessed.

Jinjer Set List
Call Me A Symbol
On The Top
Pit of Consciousness
I Speak Astronomy
Disclosure!
Judgement (& Punishment)
Sleep of the Righteous
Ape
Retrospection
Perennial
Wallflower
Teacher, Teacher
As I Boil Ice
Mediator
Home Back

Encore:
Vortex