Review by Josh Felty
Rating: Give It a Spin!
Fronted by "First Jason" Ari Lehman, First Jason's rockin' album Jason is Watching! has more than enough fist-pumping punk-inspired anthems than Jason Voorhees has helpless victims. This is not only a big, bloody Christmas card for diehard fans of the Friday the 13th series, but for the headbanging throngs with a violent itch to scratch. I could easily imagine Mr. Lehman and company instigating riots with their live performances of this album. With track names like "Red, Red, Red" and "Machete is My Friend", you can almost envision masses of serial killers joining for an evening bloodbath, while First Jason accents every blood-thirsty attack with the gusto of Genghis Khan and his minions.
I can't stress how impressed I was with the onslaught of fast-paced drumming and guitar chugging in the first four tracks. If you're gonna open up a metal album with Voorhees as a backdrop, why not attack it like Voorhees, right? And might I also add the keytar solos by the frontman are quite intriguing: apparently he has the keytar attached to a giant, monolithic Japanese sword or whatnot. That's not only a deadly weapon, but a deadly keytar, brothers and sisters. Devo and Herbie Hancock beware!
One can truly appreciate the vast influences that can be heard throughout Jason is Watching!, including some Sex Pistols/Ozzy Osbourne vibes here and there. I know that in my debut music review I promised to not make comparisons, but I had to on this one. Otherwise, Ari would probably kick my ass the next time he partied down with the Infernal Dreams crew at one of the many upcoming horror conventions. From first hand experience, Ari's the lifeblood of a good convention party: energetic, wise, and definitely a lady's man, Ari Lehman has taken rock-stardom to new heights...even if it means a couple of TV sets getting tossed off hotel balconies! Jason is Watching! has something for everyone: hardcore punk, classic metal, keytar action, and even what sounds like rap on "Jason Never Dies!"
I can just hear (and have heard) some of Ari's detractors on this one: he makes an entire album and really career out of being in the first Friday the 13th for a few minutes, what gives? I'll tell you right now, good people, the man should be applauded for it because here he's assembled a talented group of musicians around his own talents, sculpting a conceptual album around the fact that he was the first Jason Voorhees. Detractors be damned...to the murky depths of Camp Crystal Lake, no less!
Honestly, I was most impressed by the CD art than anything else: a pulp comic-inspired painting of Ari with fire-red locks, that classic handlebar mustache, wielding a bloody meat cleaver. I can imagine some poor, hapless kid in Idaho or somewhere tripping on acid, opening up this album, and tripping balls at the mere sight of it. While this album may not be everyone's "cup o' tea" per se, I must say it impressed me with its vicious, punk-fueled antics and the pure fact that any horror fan would be proud to add this to their collection.