Iconic, experimental death metal outfit Job For A Cowboy have announced their long-awaited return full-length, Moon Healer. The follow-up to 2014's Sun Eater will be released on February 23 next year via Metal Blade Records. 

Moon Healer is a vivid illustration of what happens when creativity, aggression, and volatility tangle for the first time in years.  Moon Healer is musically multifaceted, unabashedly brutal, and compellingly conceptual. 

The album announcement is accompanied by the single The Forever Rot. The Forever Rot stands in stark contrast to previous single The Agony Seeping Storm delving into a lonesome and haunting guitar melody, then evolving into shimmering reflections of Obituary, Coroner, Voivod, and even hints of Neurosis. In other words, forget about your preconceived perceptions of what this band was.  This twists vocal tropes, chord forms, and melodies into loops of razor wire. 

Featuring a newly refreshed and reinspired lineup of frontman and co-founder Jonny Davy, guitarists Tony Sannicandro and Al Glassman, bassist Nick Schendzielos, and drummer (since 2020) Navene Koperweis, Moon Healer is set to continue the forward momentum of The Forever Rot and The Agony Seeping Storm.

But why the extended wait? “I had to take a step back in the band for family. It was the catalyst that eventually created a fork in the road for all of us. We all drifted into our separate paths,“ explains Davy. “Fatherhood, additional music projects, academic degrees, and careers outside the band took priority and life’s focus,” so the band agreed on a prolonged hiatus, but with the door open for a return. “Everything lined up for us to collaborate on a new project together; it was time to cross the threshold for something new.”

The band traveled to Sanford, Florida to record with producer Jason Suecof (Death Angel, The Black Dahlia Murder, Deicide) at his Audiohammer Studios.

“We've gone through this same ritual with Jason for a multitude of reasons. But the most obvious one is that he's a masterful songwriter, guitar player, and even vocalist. He has an ear for ideas that very few seemingly have. He totally understands where we’re coming from as a band.”

Moon Healer is also the first Job For A Cowboy album to feature session drummer Koperweis (ex-Animosity). Davy previously worked with Koperweis in the progressive death metal side project Fleshwrought. Koperweis also worked as a session drummer for Machine Head and Whitechapel and is currently in the band Entheos.

Davy further elaborates, “On Moon Healer, we explore a concept centered around a close friend who embarked on a relentless quest for profound enlightenment through the incessant abuse of hallucinogenic drugs, leading to a severe disconnection from reality due to the toll it took on their mental health. The song 'The Forever Rot' touches on their beliefs that human evolution and development have somehow led to the restriction of perceiving otherworldly or inter-dimensional realities and religious entities. It delves into their disconnection from the physical world and the notion that true vitality may be found in the ability to self-destruct and recreate. That some of the drugs they consumed opened these realities that evolution has closed the door on.”

The return of Job For A Cowboy follows the recent inclusion of the the bands' What We Once Called Home from their 2004 demo by Knocked Loose vocalist Bryan Garris in his list of 'Songs That'll Knock You Loose'.

Speaking about the tune, Garris revealed that it was the first song he ever tried to scream along to. 

"The first one that comes to my head is a song called What We Once Called Home by Job For A Cowboy.  That was actually the first song that I ever tried to scream, me and a friend were listening to it really loud and goofing off, trying to imitate the vocals. And there's a breakdown in that song where he says “this is a war” over and over again. I remember I just tried to do that and my friend was just like: “you're not too bad, maybe you should come jam with me and some of my friends”. And that kind of just snowballed into me trying to pursue singing. So, that’s definitely a big one."

Moon Healer 

1. Beyond The Chemical Doorway      

2. Etched In Oblivion 

3. Grinding Wheels Of Ophanim 

4. The Sun Gave Me Ashes So I Sought Out the Moon   

5. Into The Crystalline Crypts 

6. A Sorrow-Filled Moon

7. The Agony Sweeping Storm

8. The Forever Rot 

The Forever Rot Has Been Added to Our Metal Maniacs Playlist