JUNGLE ROT – Cruel Face Of War

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  JUNGLE ROT
• Duration: 00:40:32
• Available from: 05/15/2026
• Label:

• Unique Leader

With twelve studio albums under their belt, Jungle Rot have nothing left to prove to anyone – and in fact they don't seem to have the slightest intention of trying. “Cruel Face of War” finds them exactly where we left them: same men, same vision, same linear approach to death metal. Even behind the scenes nothing changes, with Dan Swanö once again involved in the mixing and mastering phase and Gyula Havancsák responsible for a cover that fits perfectly into the macabre and at the same time always colorful imagery of the group.

The style is always the same, with a very simple and square death metal which for some years now has incorporated clear thrash influences, thus correcting the focus in the more sustained and pointed parts, which now – thanks also to the powerful production – don't sound so distant from certain things that Destruction proposed at the time of records like “All Hell Breaks Loose” and “Antichrist”. When times slow down, however, Jungle Rot return to more familiar territory, dusting off that Floridian-inspired groove that has always been a fundamental part of their DNA. The references to Obituary are evident in the more rhythmic and heavy riffs, which work well when they manage to maintain a certain rhythm, but which can sometimes slip into too much predictability.

And here lies, once again, the crux of the matter: beyond any discussion of integrity or attachment to the cause – now tired rhetoric – what really matters is the effectiveness of the songs. From this point of view, Jungle Rot continue along the path undertaken in recent years: overall solid records, with a handful of well-constructed pieces and a newfound energy that, for a period, seemed to have weakened to say the least. However, the usual limits are not lacking: certain riffs that really sound like they have already been heard and drops of inspiration that emerge here and there in the central and final part of the tracklist.

It is therefore not surprising that every now and then the feeling resurfaces that the full-length format, for a group so square and always focused on the usual plots, is perhaps a little too much; on the other hand, we doubt that Dave Matrise and his associates will soon start releasing singles and EPs like young people do today, even if perhaps this would put them in a position to better concentrate ideas, verve and inspiration. Let's take them as they are, in short. Net of the predictable drops in tension, “Cruel Face of War” confirms itself as a rather effective chapter as a whole, whose top songs should, as usual, be able to gain further gear in concert. The production of the album indeed appears clean and thunderous, but in the long run also a little too impersonal: a more live and rough feeling could have given the whole thing an extra boost.