Jo Below – New Worlds

Jo Below
New Worlds
Label: Inverse Records
Out: March 24^th, 2024
Playing time: 20:37

Jo Below hail from the Finnish capital Helsinki and were founded in 2017. The four-piece band is dedicated to Melodic Hard Rock. Although Hard Rock doesn’t really fit. Many genres are cited as influences, from Southern rock to Grunge to Pop Punk. The first EP “By The Rules” was released in 2020. The EP “New Worlds”, released in March 2024, is now the third. However, there are no albums to report so far.

“Broken Promises” is the name of the opener and has a slight Southern Rock edge. The instrumentation is minimal at first, before the rhythm section strikes powerfully after just under forty seconds. However, the song remains calm and melodic. With “Forever Mine”, the Finns put more energy into it. Pounding but groovy riffs dominate here. Singer Johanna Kari puts a lot of soul into her voice. “Who Are You” puts the acoustic guitars in the spotlight. And is therefore less rocky. But it’s still not a real ballad. It could probably be classified more as Folk Rock. But that changes with “Life On The Line”. Jo Below really rock out again here but remain clearly in the mid-tempo range. Hard Rock? Probably not, thanks to the high Pop portion. Despite (or because of?) the good guitar solo. The EP ends with “The Unknown”.  After a calm introduction characterized by drums and clean guitars, the song later builds up to a melodic mid-tempo rocker. 

The band’s figurehead is definitely singer Johanna Kari with her variable and expressive Soul/Blues voice. But her three comrades-in-arms on the instruments also cut a fine figure. Varied songwriting is a positive feature of this EP. Despite the many influences mentioned, the songs come across as one piece.

Track list:

• Broken Promises
• Forever Mine
• Who Are You
• Life On The Line
• The Unknown