To write off Jagged Doctrine as behind the times or, worse, irrelevant, would be to miss the point. JD is not a band that is used to playing for the masses, anyway. If you want commercial appeal, look elsewhere. Or not? To Whom It May Concern dwells in the no-man’s land where the nations of industrial, rock, metal and alternative used to collide, particularly in the mid- to late-’90s. But repeated listens show a bit more depth. The lyrics, while not necessarily cerebral, are challenging in their content. Although this style of rock has lost some of its commercial appeal in today’s plastic music environment, the irony of it is just how accessible Jagged Doctrine’s metallic dance beats are. Whereas other industrial/rock/metal hybrid bands rely on shock factor or extremities, TWIMC’s subtleties are simultaneously part of the appeal of JD and what will ultimately keep them from being bigger commercially in the era of Gaga, dubstep, and ever-splintering black metal hybrids.
