Jungle Rot Album Review
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Band Name: Jungle Rot
Album Name: Darkness Foretold Rating: 3.5 / 5 User Rating: 0 / 5 Label: Crash Music Buy Album: Amazon.com Rate Album: Rate |
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Tracklist 1. Agent Orange 2. Fight 'Til Death 3. Jesus Hitler 4. Darkness Foretold 5. Tomb Of Armenous - (live) 6. Eternal Agony - (live) 7. Consumed In Darkness - (live) |
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Following the unexpected, forced retirement of the Olympic Recordings label, Jungle Rot has joined up with Crash Music for a brand new recording contract, looking forward to releasing a new album 'War Zone' in 2006. To commemorate new partnership, Crash has unearthed this historical curiosity, which was originally released by Sounds Of Death magazine back in 1998 on a strictly limited, non-retail basis. Essentially a placeholder between the group's second album, 'Slaughter The Weak', and their Olympic debut 'Dead And Buried', this seven song EP will likely have the same sort of an appeal to fans of death metal as Slayer's 'Haunting The Chapel' had with thrash fans back in 1985. Many metalheads are likely to be intrigued enough with the current work of J Rot to go back and search this album out. A similar parallel can be drawn to fans who went back and rediscovered Slayer's back catalog after hearing 'Reign In Blood' for the first time. Although the material here is much rawer and more primitive in comparison to the band's pulverizing wall-of-death sound on their 2005 effort 'Fueled By Hate', an outstanding cover of 'Agent Orange' by Sodom, Carnivore's notorious 'Jesus Hitler' and even a nod to the mighty Slayer with a gruff rendition of 'Fight 'Til Death' makes this a virtual history lesson in extreme metal. Obviously Jungle Rot is beholden to thrash music, with the exclusive title-cut owing much to both the structure and sound of mid-eighties thrash. Comparisons to bands such as Obituary and Six Feet Under are inescapable upon hearing this cut, but it's a safe bet that followers of each of those historically important death metal acts will agree that this original, studio cut is worthy of praise for it's neck-breaking tempo and overall sonic harshness. Three live tracks have been culled from the group's first two records, with 'Tomb Of Armenous' and 'Eternal Agony' each being taken from the group's 'Skin The Living' debut. The EP winds down with 'Consumed In Darkness', a track appears on the 'Slaughter The Weak' album. Don't expect big-budget production on these live tracks because, frankly, the music of Jungle Rot does not require that type of treatment. 'Eternal Agony' resounds as being the most exciting live performance, as the barbed, barfing vocals of frontman Dave Matrise spread major sickness atop a grinding death-chug. Jungle Rot is the type of band that metal fans either completely love or totally hate based upon their own individual tastes, but there's little denying that recordings such as this carry more underground, true metal credibility than much of the fluff that's being passed for metal these days. Not only is this record one that many real metal fans will be likely to enjoy, it's one that they are likely to respect as well. Review by: EF Read Member Reviews |
