"Damn the Torpedoes" - An interview with James Genenz of Jungle Rot

MID-MAJOR MAYHEM

By: Geoff Teach

The road has been long and arduous, but Jungle Rot have weathered the storms and soldiered on over the many obstacles to become arguably one of the most respected acts in their subgenre. Since 1994, the death metal quartet has seen many members come and go, been backed by many different labels, opened for or toured with some of the biggest names in metal, and certainly seen their fair share of industry malarkey; but through it all, founding member Dave Matrise (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) has kept the J.R. train on the tracks, moving full steam ahead. Since 2006’s release of War Zone, Jungle Rot found stability in their lineup, acquiring Geoff Bub (lead guitar) and James Genenz (bass), both of whom have been with the band ever since, and upon establishing this permanent lineup, Jungle Rot has cranked out five phenomenal studio albums in nine years, including the recently released Order Shall Prevail.

The cover art for Order Shall Prevail.

“Of course, any band is always going to say that their latest effort is their best ever, but that’s just how it is, so, yes, this is our best effort ever.” says James Genenz, the Chicago-born bass player of Jungle Rot. “It was the shortest time we’ve ever taken to write an album. We [wanted] to get it done before leaving for Mayhem Fest, [so] we had to write and record the album in less than four months. We nailed it, though, and I think that the hurried energy gave us a nice creative burst. The album is definitely us. We haven’t changed the formula much, but I doubt anyone who likes us wants us to, anyway.”

Order Shall Prevail has gained Jungle Rot plenty of well-earned praise, and the band has ridden the wave of success to the tune of spending this past summer touring the country as a part of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, and, unequivocally, the tour was a rousing success for J.R.

“Mayhem was a great thing for this band as we were able to showcase ourselves to a different demographic and pick up some new fans along the way. Playing in front of thousands of people every day wasn’t too shabby, either. Every show, we were bombarded at the merch table by kids who had just heard us for the first time and were stoked as fuck! The tour was excellent for us, and we met a ton of great people and new friends.”

Jungle Rot pose for quick pic after destroying Detroit on the Mayhem tour. (Pictured L to R: James Genenz, Dave Matrise, Joey Muha, and Geoff Bub)

Recorded at Belle City Sound in Racine, Wisconsin, Order Shall Prevail was produced by the only engineer the band has ever known or worked with, Chris “Wisco” Djuricic. Not only is Wisco in the only producer that Jungle Rot have ever trusted, but he is also a former member of the band, and his overall influence on the act is deeply tangible.

“Chris is absolutely the secret member of Jungle Rot. He has recorded everything the band has ever put out. He was the live bassist in 1997/98, and he laid down the bass on Dead and Buried and the guitars on Fueled by Hate, so he is basically part of the band. It’s a great dynamic because Chris is very helpful when it comes to writing and arranging the material. We’ll show him our demos and he’ll ask to change things here or there and it always seems to work, because he knows what we’re going for in terms of sound.”

Not only rife with Jungle Rot’s trademarked blend of controlled chaos throughout its ten tracks, Order Shall Prevail also features a guest appearance by the incomparable Max Cavalera on the song “Fight Where You Stand”. Cavalera’s cameo was especially pleasing to yours truly, as Sepultura’s Arise was the first metal album I ever fully fell in love with, so naturally, I had to ask Genenz about how they managed to shanghai the godfather of Brazilian metal for some vocal walk-on work.

“We played the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise earlier this year, and Soulfly was added to the bill last minute. We were playing our second set in one of the venues on the boat, and after the show, Max and his wife, Gloria, came up to us and told us they wanted to meet us because they were big fans! It was pretty fucking humbling to say the least. They were very gracious and kept in contact. When we started writing ‘Fight Where You Stand’, Dave continually commented that the chorus sounds like something Max would sing. Well, we approached Gloria, who got Max to agree to do vocals on the track. Dave and Wisco met us with Soulfly in Milwaukee, brought recording gear, and the rest is history. We are honored to have Max on the album!”

Max Cavalera and Dave Matrise laying down vocals for "Fight Where You Stand"

Visitations by one of the longest-tenured and most venerated vocalists in the business aside though, Jungle Rot has no intentions of sitting back on their haunches and letting things get stale. When asked about the plans for future world conquest, Genenz revealed not only some of the details, but also some of the band’s dignity in his response.

“You know, we just take it album by album. At this point we’re just grateful to be able to play for people and to make a little money here and there. We’ve got some dates lined up in Mexico in September, we’re working on something for October in the States, and we’ll also be hitting the road again next spring. I'm pretty sure we’re planning on doing at least one more record with Victory within the next couple years, too.”

Ultimately, Jungle Rot isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and that’s great news for the metal industry, because they are some of the hardest working and hardest touring (and if I may say so from personal experience, also some of the nicest) dudes out there. If you do not currently own a copy of Order Shall Prevail, this is normally where I’d strongly encourage you to go out and buy yourself one, but in this case, I’m going to let Mr. Genenz do the honors:

“What are you waiting for? Get out there and buy that fucker!”

‘Nuff said.

Keep it Metal! \m/

To check out “E.F.K.” off of Order Shall Prevail, just press play below!