Why Chicago-based hardcore/metalcore/scream label Victory Records signed death metal survivors
Jungle Rot is a mystery for the ages. A band almost entirely devoid of appeal to Warped Tour-attending youth,
JR play downtuned, somewhat groove-oriented death metal in the spirit of late-'80s/early-'90s bands like
Bolt Thrower,
Obituary, and
Sodom. This is music guaranteed to inspire headbanging (during the fast parts) and head-nodding (during the slower parts), and live, it'll get the mosh pit roiling. The songs are built around powerful drumming, downtuned guitar riffs that blend with the prominent, choppy basslines, and guttural vocals -- all the classic elements that have made this style of hardcore-friendly death metal one of the most viscerally satisfying and long-lived styles of underground music across the globe. Vocalist Dave Matrise has a thick, hoarse roar that occasionally drifts from a hardcore bellow toward an over-enunciated snarl like Oderus Urungus of
GWAR, and the rest of the band shouts the choruses behind him in a manner that'll be more than familiar to fans of bands like
Sick of It All and
Biohazard. This is a more than solid album by a band with a longish history in the underground -- fans shouldn't be worried that their new label has changed
Jungle Rot in any way. ~ Phil Freeman