JUNGLE ROT

Wisconsin death moshers JUNGLE ROT have been slamming it out for 21 years now and with their ninth album, "Order Shall Prevail", they welcome none other than Max Cavalera to their studio for a hollering brodown on "Fight Where You Stand". Reportedly inspired by headlines of police brutality, "Order Shall Prevail" is another no-nonsense round of speed demons and stompers.

Thrash and hardcore prevails all over "Doomsday", "Fight Where You Stand", "Order Shall Prevail" and "Trench Tactics". Slower marchers like "Paralyzed Prey" are still heavier than a combat boot filled with, well, you know. The lumbering riff slides and menacing strides of "Paralyzed Prey" are enough to bowl listeners over, but Geoff Bub's gory guitar solo and Dave Matrise's guttural pukes feel like chucked lava. The scalding effect continues on "Blood Revenge", which works its way toward rapid discharges on the heels of double-timed marches and pulled-back breakdowns. Geoff Bub's blistery solo doesn't want to go away, as he slits a final peal while the song grinds its way to close.

Reserving much of their clout for "Fight Where You Stand", the hammering tempos and Dave Matrise's grunting opens a path for Max Cavalera, who bellows his way in prior to the guitar solo and melds himself with Matrise. The double hammer trips at the three-minute mark invite a SEPULTURA-esque slowdown for Cavalera to woof all over, and "Fight Where You Stand" becomes a rip-snorting screamfest to the bitter end.

Being the vets they are, JUNGLE ROT shows how to effectively use a hard-knocking breakdown in the midst of the title track's pounding thrash before slowing things down again with the punk-mashed "The Dread Pestilence". From there, JUNGLE ROT economizes their next couple songs, whipping up an AGNOSTIC FRONT-like pit burner with the 2:50 "I Cast the First Stone" and a 2:24 mid-tempo slapper "E.F.K." (you know, as in eat, fuck, kill, mankind's base urges) Expect the band to jack out another hardcore blaster with "Trench Tactics" before rounding up with a slogging ode to the end of days, "Nuclear Superiority".

While JUNGLE ROT may not boast the largest audience for a band that's been around as long as they have (and considering their single "I Predict a Riot" was featured on Comedy Central's "Workaholics", of all things),their fans are fiercely devoted and "Order Shall Prevail" is another winner. Predictable, yes, but this band knows their hardcore-based, death metal war game inside-out and by now, JUNGLE ROT lays this stuff down like they're at Reveille 24-7.