Jungle Rot – Terror Regime (Victory Records)
Monday, 6th May 2013
Without delving too deep into discussion of beatdowns and their pervasiveness on the Victory Records roster, the fact there’s one at the 2:24 mark on Terror Regime proves Jungle Rot and the label are fitting partners after all. Rewind a decade ago and such a pairing one would have been unheard of – a tried-and-true North American death metal band, and a label known for breaking various hardcore and not-so hardcore bands. It just goes to show how time changes everything…except Jungle Rot’s sound. It’s the same as it ever was on Terror Regime.
The band’s eighth album (hats off for making it this far, gang) presents little in terms of variance from their previous output. Yet there’s something to be said for the simplistic churn of cuts like “Voice Your Disgust” and “Utter Chaos,” the latter of which reels off some quality solos in the Slayer vein. The Obituary chug of “I Am Hatred” is cool for the long-hairs, while the doomy riff section that opens “Blind Devotion” is a winner. Not too enthused to hear a total rip-off of Entombed’s “Revel in Flesh” pop up on “Pronounced Dead,” but hey, Jungle Rot isn’t going to win any awards for outthinking their competition.
A band that always spoke to the barbaric, non-technical side of the death metal crowd, Jungle Rot’s stick-to-itiveness has enabled to weather pretty much every underground storm known to man. If they hit the 10-album mark, then they’ll be deserving of cockroach and/or Motorhead status. For some, that’s all they need to keep going.
