La Jungle – Ephemeral Feast (Album – Black Basset / A Tant Rêver Du Roi / Rockerill / Stock)
Genre/Influences: Krautrock, Industrial.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: This is the fifth studio album by the Belgian duo La Jungle. The band is hailing from the French part of the country and has released its album by four international labels.
Those labels are Black Basset Records, Rockerill Records, A Tant Rêver Du Roi and Stock Records. The duo had already worked with the first three on “Fall Off The Apex” in 2021.
Content: The new work has been introduced as the coldest work by La Jungle ever. After a heavy, short, intro we discover the loud and merciless sound of the band. This work stands for heavy Krautrock dominated by impressive guitar riffs and heavy drums. The vocals have been mixed in the background and have been often produced in a shouting way.
+ + + : This is a cold and somewhat tormented piece of Krautrock. The tracks are progressively built up, sometimes creating a transcendental sensation. It has an uplifting effect which mainly comes through at “Couleur Calcium” which is a real masterpiece, and “Rivari”. Guitar and drums are totally complementary while the vocals are adding a ghost-like effect.
– – – : I’m not a huge fan of the artwork but that’s not really a reason to complain.
Conclusion: La Jungle took me by surprise having accomplished a great and powerful piece of Krautrock.
Best songs: “Couleur Calcium”, “Rivari”, “Hallow Love?”, “The Lake”, “De Verna”.
Rate: 8½.
Artist: www.facebook.com/lajungleband
Labels: www.atrdr.net / www.facebook.com/atantreverduroi / www.blackbassetrecords.com / www.facebook.com/BlackBassetRecords / www.rockerillrecords.com / www.facebook.com/rockerillrecords / www.stockrecordsperth.bandcamp.com / www.facebook.com/stockrecords
About La Jungle
La Jungle is a Belgian duo from Mons, set up in 2013 by Mathieu Flasse and Rémy Venant, who perform under the names ‘Roxie Rookie’ and ‘Jim Frisko Binwette’. The pair mixes krautrock, industrial and techno, a combination they prefer to call ‘Organic Trance Music’. In a ‘Click Interview’ with La Jungle, Roxie described the band’s longevity as a matter of contrast: “Jim and me are pretty different and surely opposites on many points. And I think it’s a good thing for your band if you don’t always share the same state of mind with your partner.”
The self-titled debut “La Jungle” appeared in 2015 through Dewane Records, Whosbrain Records, Rockerill Records, Kinky Star and Kuistax. “II” followed in 2016 on Rockerill Records and Black Basset Records, and “Past // Middle Age // Future” in 2019, with A Tant Rêver Du Roi joining the two labels. A remix edition of that album arrived in 2020 on the duo’s own H Y P E R J U N G L E Recordings, the label they have run since that year, and “COUCOU BEUH !!!” came out on EXAG’ Records the same year.
“Fall Off The Apex” followed in 2021 and “Ephemeral Feast” in 2022, the latter also issued as a separate single and remix 12″. The cassette “Saint Bon-Singes” appeared on H Y P E R J U N G L E Recordings in 2022, and the sixth album “Blurry Landscapes” arrived in 2023, built around a collaboration with Outsider and Art Brut artists.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
