And so the cork pops on the 12th offering from the well-established, and seemingly immoveable, death metal juggernaut that is Wisconsin’s Jungle Rot. Like your chosen bottle of everyday wine, ‘Cruel Face Of War’ does nothing more than provide exactly what you need at that particular moment….and in this confusing old world, that is bloody vital.
Death metal was never supposed to get all complicated and technical (though those that took that route have absolutely done the right thing) – it’s more important than gasping a lungful of air that there are those bands who remain true to the devastatingly heavy constructs of the genre. Strangely, the band that always leaps up to the top step of my mind, when pondering this, is the UK’s very own Benediction and they feature on the track ‘Horrors Vile’ on this release. Two battering rams continuing to bludgeon their own path and to hell with the consequences.
‘Cruel Face of War’ stands as a supremely produced, gastronomically heavy and skin-meltingly vile slab of detuned thrash infused old-school death metal. From the Obituary-esque descents of ‘Maniacal’, through the melodic, hammering kick of the suitably skull-smashing ‘Radicalized’ to the ‘rehearsal room next to Slayer’ that is ‘Legacy Of The Damned’, there is nothing not to absolutely love about this album, coupled with the fact that long-term guitarist/frontman Dave Matrise continues to spew all over his well-trodden pathways….
Like that very drinkable ‘everyday’ Rioja, Jungle Rot fit any occasion, whether alone or with company, and can generally be found lurking about somewhere on the lower shelves.
Best Paired With: A Mallet, Some Kind Of Destructive Mindset, and an assortment of neck braces.
Reviewed by Jaff.
Cruel face of war – jungle rot is out now on unique leader records.
Leave a Reply