Underground Shall Prevail- Jungle Rot


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Jungle Rot knows a thing or two about death metal. Having eleven years of experience touring and surviving in the trenches of the underground death metal scene, they have slugged it out with various crowds and can prove their place within the scene. Their latest album Order Shall Prevail continues the streak of roots death metal they are known to power through.

Sticking to what they know best is playing old school Midwestern style death metal without steering away from their roots. Jungle Rot come from a scene that is often overlooked but still produce strong underground bands with diehard fans who support their scene.

Guitarist Jimmy Genenz talks about what makes it work there. “I’ll tell you why. The kids who were old school 20 years ago are still old school. That’s why. There’s a lot of beer drinking hell raisers there. They just want death metal.

The Midwest is tight. We get overlooked a lot. Everybody’s look for the band that’s furthest away. They must be cool because they’re from far away. It takes more than lifting weights and tattoos and hair cuts to be a metal band. Every major city’s got their new flavor of the month deathcore thing.

Jungle Rot at Rockstar Mayhem (via Facebook)

Jungle Rot at Rockstar Mayhem (via Facebook)

He shared how the band persevered over time, while shuffling drummers and making things work internally.

The first ten years of Jungle Rot was very cataclysmic – members coming, members going. That’s probably why the band didn’t take off at that time, because there was a lot of interest but they couldn’t do the tours. They couldn’t find anybody.

It’s not easy. You can’t find somebody to drop their job for six weeks and take off for minimal pay. You really gotta love it. When me and Geoff [Bub – guitars] joined the band about eleven years ago, the three of us stuck together as a core and that’s been the longest core we’ve had in Jungle Rot. In the eleven years we’ve been in Jungle Rot, we’ve only been through three drummers. The drummer situation’s always been the weirdest. I don’t know. Hopefully Joey [Muha, ex-Threat Signal] will stick around. He’s a good kid. He’s a great drummer. Let’s hope for the best.

By Rei Nishimoto


Jungle Rot – Order Shall Prevail


jungle rot prevailcd

Jungle Rot has been one of the most consistent bands in death metal for over two decades. The fact that they are not top of mind when talking about the best American death metal acts is a shame for how hard they have worked. Added to the fact that their thrashy, power-groove flavored style has always harkened back to the earliest death metal years, while current popular tastes favor the more flashy technical bands. All that being equal, Jungle Rot always turns out solid albums, and their new one Order Shall Prevail (Victory) is no different.

The best thing about Jungle Rot is they know where they live and breathe: the grinding, grooving mid-tempo jams that make everyone headbang and mosh. Starting with the Slayer-tastic ‘Doomsday’, they serve notice that yes, the`Rot is back! Vocalist David Matrise’s militaristic howling bark has always stood out to me. The second track ‘Paralyzed Prey’ has an angular riff from guitarist Geoff Bub and some tasty soloing going on as well. ‘Blood Revenge’ is one of the best songs on the album. Just a classic badass cut. It has a maelström of cool parts that get better on every listen. ‘Fight Where You Stand’ is a deathy speed metal jam and features Max Cavalera on guest vocals. The Max connection makes sense since Jungle Rot has clearly been influenced by early Sepultura albums such as Beneath The Remains and Arise (both Roadrunner). Cavalera and Matrise’s two vocal ranges mesh beautifully too, in a too often not heard type of team up for death metal.

As you would imagine, the title track is a claustrophobic feeling affair, warning of a dystopian future not too far off for us. You can almost hear this being a huge sing-a-long song live. Drummer Jesse Beahler, who dominates on this album, is on point here. Other top tracks include ‘The Dread Pestilence’ ‘Cast The First Stone’, and ‘Nuclear Superiority’.

At this point in the game, Jungle Rot is not going to change up the formula too much, yet stay true to themselves. Their straight-ahead approach should help win over fans all summer as they appear on the Victory Records Stage at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.

7.0/10

KEITH CHACHKES