When Tampa’s upcoming Southern Darkness Festival was announced, there was a long list of bands and I was unfamiliar with around 60-70% of the names. Naturally, I started going down the list and as I was checking out each band I noticed one with a particularly strange name which I am still not too sure how to pronounce: Jungbluth.
Jungbluth are a three-piece hardcore group from Münster, Germany with a very ferocious sound and a positive message which promotes both equality and individualism.
Upon my first listening to the first track off of Jungbluth’s 2012 debut EP (‘titled s/t tape’), I could instantly tell that this band was something very different. The name of the track is ‘Ueberstellung’ and I would say it is a fantastic introduction to Jungbluth’s sound, as it gives a very clear picture of what the group is all about. They demonstrate so much aggression in their music that at times it may feel like your speakers are about to punch you square in the face. ‘Ueberstellung’ opens up very slowly, but as soon as everything kicks in it is absolute havoc. The wretched and angry vocals, dirty sounding bass, crazy drum work and devastating riffs give off are soaked in so much intensity that at times it’s hard to believe that there’s only three people playing.
The huge grabber for this band is their fantastic songwriting, as the tracks are not afraid to go in any direction that they want, yet they still retain the central focus of the song without being too far-fetched or dizzying. ‘Looks Like Freedom’ from their second release (titled Part Ache) starts to build the momentum from the second it starts, building up into the explosive verse which in turn bleeds into the next section, with “Looks like freedom/Tastes like death/It’s something in between I guess” being shouted over and over until a monstrous breakdown finishes up the track. None of their tracks ever feel dragged out or repetitive due to their ability to change things up easily and in a way that makes sense.
This band is incredibly heavy and rarely ever lets up to give the listener any reprieve. Their tracks don’t follow a specific formula of any sort, giving every song its own individual flavor, and that uniqueness is what makes every song so interesting. You can stream/download their music entirely for free (though you can still donate!) over on their bandcamp.
http://jungbluth.bandcamp.com/
