By Greg Pratt

Hailing from Wisconsin, JUNGLE ROT have been toiling away since 1994, always the didn’t-get-a-soundcheck opener, never the brootal DM headliner. And why, who knows? The band does a great job forging ahead always with their workmanlike approach to death metal, keeping it generally mid-paced, picking up the speed when it’s needed, more so on new disc What Horrors Await than the band has recently. More on that later… right now, we’ve got vocalist/guitarist/main JR man Dave Matrise on the line and there’s some goddamn bad weather brewing.

“I guess some tornado is touching down not too far away from here,” he says. “It’s pretty crazy out there, hail and everything. So if I lose you, you might have to call back right away.”

Call back right away? How about if things get bad enough that the tornado cuts off our connection I let Dave worry for his life, not promote his band? But in his sentence is the essence of Jungle Rot: determination, a dedication against all odds, a brutal will to fight, through record label switches, member changes and a fickle death metal scene. And the new disc finds them fighting as hard as ever.

“It’s put a spark in us, man,” says Matrise on the album. “It’s fun to play, it seems like we picked up the pace a little bit and we’re having a great time doing it. It’s fun to play fast,” he laughs. “I would say the reason why the album is faster, we did the DESTRUCTION cover (‘Invincible Force’) and we started out with that early, and that just set the pace from there, man, just put us on track to pick it up.”

And with the album out, the question of touring comes up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go over that well. “That’s a touchy subject, man. For Europe, we do excellent. We’re heading over there in September, we’ve got some shows with SIX FEET UNDER, then we’ll be doing some headlining on our own for another 15 shows. For the US, I hate to say it, but I’m a little bitter right now. It seems like there’s politics involved in the music scene and it’s a shame that a hard-working band like us with seven CDs out, we just can not land a tour.”

“It’s crazy how the industry works,” he continues, sounding tired but ready to fight—again, that’s Jungle Rot for ya. “I’m convinced it’s all favouritism and favours owed. It’s a shame, because we live this. It’s really hard on the band. We take this very seriously, then when it comes time to go on the road… I thought for sure this was the one. We’re ready to go, man. We’ll do two, three months if we could; we just can never get it. But we’re gonna keep fighting the fight.”

The band has always been fighting that underdog fight; does it ever make Matrise want to throw in the towel, say, Fuck this, it’s too much?

“I say that probably every day,” he says. “But realistically, I think that’s what keeps it going, is me fighting that fight. That’s what made the band, that’s what made me personally. It’s a tough business. Every day we just think this could be the day…”

It almost makes you wonder: after so many years of struggle and coming out on the losing side of things, why does the band keep at it?

“It’s such a big part of my life, man,” says Matrise. “And like you say, it comes down to being the underdog. For me, running the band myself—we have no manager or booking agency in the US—and being involved with the scene, constantly getting emails from fans, I think that’s what fuels the fire. It’s really hard for me to get out because that’s what keeps me going. I’m just so involved with it. I couldn’t imagine life without it. Seriously. It’s such a big part of my life.”

Matrise is a man determined. You hear it in his voice; you hear it in What Horrors Await. You hear it in his closing words.

“We’re just gonna keep going,” he says.