Album Review: Jungle Rot – Cruel Face Of War (Unique Leader Records)

Jungle Rot, purveyors of old-school thrash metal, death metal, crossover, and crusty punk, are back with their brand new, and twelfth album, ‘Cruel Face of War’. Out on May 15th, 2026, via Unique Leader Records.

I reckon you don’t really need me to tell you what to expect on this album, after all, it’s Jungle Rot and they make garish noise that can bust open heads and crush souls. Love them or loathe them, they’re masters of extreme metal, especially as they know to make things a bit more appealing. A touch of groove, some stompy melody moments, and a chorus or two, makes all the difference. Even if it’s the rampaging savage side of the band that is probably why most are hitting play on the record.

I dig Jungle Rot and have enjoyed many an album, even if I don’t always come away wowed by what I’ve heard. Something that continues to be the case here. Cruel Face of War is a beast of a record with spectacular moments throughout, but will I remember it in six months’ time? I suspect not.

It made me winch to write that because I know how beloved this band is and I can’t stress enough that I really like this album. It’s aggressive, it’s intense, it’s addictive, it has that potent Jungle Rot flavour, and it doesn’t take long for all of this to take hold. Not when it kicks off with ferocious efforts like Apocalyptic Dawn and the title track, which has a moment that is unapologetically designed for the live show. I mean, is it ok to write in a fist pumping ‘aye aye aye’ call? I supposed there aren’t any rules around it, but it doesn’t feel quite right. Still, that aside, it’s a banger.

As is Maniacal, a vicious combination of chunky riffs, brutal drumming, and guttural vocals delivered in methodical fashion. Whereas Suffer in Silence goes for the throat in wrathful fashion. However, what really tickles my wicked side is the heavy groove monster that is Radicalized. A track to make you gurn and grin at the same time, somehow. The sight of which will terrify all who see it.

That’s the power of Jungle Rot and it is irrefutably great, even when a track like Blade of Betrayal is little more than a relentless blast of death. Again, I dig it, but it’s also a solid example of the forgettable nature of parts of the record. Contrast that with When the Elders Rise, which is up there as one of the album’s best and all because it has groove and a feral sounding guitar solo.

Benediction’s David Ingram makes his mark in the latter part of the album as part of Horrors Vile. A track that, unsurprisingly, is up there as one of the fastest and heaviest.

Finally, and provided your mind hasn’t been beaten into mush, Jungle Rot unleash something ugly in the form of Legacy of the Damned, something riotous with Rot Riffs, and something so in keeping with who they are and what they do with the mighty head banger that is Hollow Husk.

So satisfying, and so damn enjoyable, even if I’m confident I won’t remember much from it in six months’ time.

Jungle Rot – Cruel Face of War Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Apocalyptic Dawn
3. Cruel Face of War
4. Maniacal
5. Suffer in Silence
6. Radicalized
7. Blade of Betrayal
8. When the Elders Rise
9. Horrors Vile (ft. David Ingram of Benediction)
10. Legacy of the Damned
11. Rot Riffs
12. Hollow Husk

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