– Hi James, thanks for taking the time. What are you currently up to?

James: Thank you! Right now, we’ve been doing some local shows to help us bond with our new drummer, making a little money to pay some bills, and fighting for some decent tours to support our new album!

 

– To start, could you please introduce JUNGLE ROT for all those not familiar with you yet?

James: We’ve been around for about 15 years now. Dave started the band back in 94 and hasn’t looked back since. We play groovy, thrashy, “old school” sounding death metal, but it sounds fresh.

 

– Why did you pick the name «Jungle Rot»?

James: Dave came up with the name in high school, and he’s just stuck with it ever since!

 

– And what are the band’s main musical influences?

James: As a band, we focus on writing metal the way metal should be, like the masters Sodom, Sepultura, Kreator, Slayer, Destruction, etc. There is also a slight hardcore influence from bands such as Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All, etc. We all grew up loving these bands, and that’s what formed the Jungle Rot sound, so that’s what we stick with today.

 

– Your new «Kill on Command» was released some days ago; how’s being its feedback both from the fans and press?

James: We feel it’s our best work. The response from the critics and fans has been great so far, people seem to be digging it, and that’s a good thing!

 

– All your records so far have got a great response, does this fact put some pressure on you or makes you feel more self confident with your own stuff?

James: We get a lot of bad press too, some people just don’t get it. But for those that do get it, they seem to sing praise and that’s cool. We cant please everyone so we’ll just do what we do and if people like it, that’s cool. We work best under pressure, but we don’t intentionally try and change things, we just write what we’re feeling at practice. There is definitely a confidence within the band.

 

– How was the songwriting for this album?

James: Rather simple actually. With us, songs just come together, they flow out of us. Dave wrote most of the music this time around, with myself and Geoff having a hand in there too, and I wrote all the lyrics.

 

– The cover artwork is unusual for you guys, could you please shed some light on this?

James: We wanted a different color scheme first off. The reds, oranges, greens were getting out of hand. The blue is refreshing for us. The cover depicts a cannibalistic warrior chief calling his tribe to battle.

 

– You’ve been releasing all your albums with different labels; Napalm, Century Media, Pavement, Pulverised, Victory… why all those changes?

James: Simply because the music business can suck sometimes. Maybe we didn’t do go enough on a certain label so we were dropped, maybe the label didn’t do shit so we split. Every situation has it’s own story that I definitely don’t choose to go into in public, haha!

 

– And how did you hook up with Victory Records? Is a smaller label than Napalm Records for instance, is this a beneift for the band or the opposite?

James: Actually, Im pretty sure Victory is a larger label than Napalm. Maybe not so much in Europe. Victory has been a total benefit. We’ve had more ad’s for this record than any other label has done for us. Everything they said they were gonna do, they did, so we can’t argue. None of us can afford to record, promote, advertise, etc. like Victory can.

 

– You have shot a clip for «Rise Up & Revolt», what could you tell us about it? Do you plan filming any other videos?

James: The video was a lot of fun to make. It was a long day, 9 hours or so, but the final result is exactly what we envisioned. Eric from Victory shot and edited the video and did an amazing job. We certainly plan on making another video or two from the album, if budgets permit.

 

– You’ve played with well-known acts, got great reviews, relesed great albums, have toured a lot… what’s left for JUNGLE ROT?

James: To keep doing just that. We just want to make music. We all have a deep love for writing and performing and just plan on doing it until we physically cant anymore!

 

– You are a Death Metal band, and bands into the style that have just released albums too, or have came back, are AUTOPSY or MORBID ANGEL. What’s your opinion on both CDs?

James: The Autopsy album is fucking stellar! Exactly what the genre needed. As for the Morbid Angel record, I was highly disappointed. Here is a band that could have been the saviors of real death metal, in a scene where hipsters and hair bands, emo kids and whiny bitches, think they are death metal, Morbid Angel could have layed the hammer down and put out their most incredible release. But they choose to bury death metal even more. I just don’t get it. I’ll stick with Altars Of Madness..

 

– And finally, what are your near-future plans? I know you’ll play some festivals but, will you tour as well?

James: We are working to get on some US and Europe tours for the end of this year. Our Facebook page will always have up to the minute details.

 

– That’s everything, thanks once more for your time. If you want to add some final words, feel free to do it.

James: Thank you for the interview! Hope everyone checks out our new album “Kill On Command”. Support death metal!

 

www.facebook.com/igotjunglerot

www.jungle-rot.com

 

Sergio Fernández

sergio@queensofsteel.com

 

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