Northern Ireland. A place where when asked about music the heaviest thing most people would think of is In Case Of Fire (who have now gone all Christian on us) or even The Answer (the highlight of their career supporting AC/DC and clinging on to the hope that they’ll be a 70s rock n’ roll revival). However, coming from Northern Ireland are Jackalfeud.
A mix of hardcore, hard rock and metal and abra cadabra, Jackalfeud come out of Ballymena. Taking inspiration from bands like Norma Jean, Jackalfeud’s latest EP, Structures is a kick up the arse for a lot of bands these days. There’s no pop here. No ballads. No preachy bullshit. Just straight to the point heaviness that is what everyone so desperately needs these days.
Kicking things off with the straight 1-2 punch of No Reason, Just Fire and Fauxtality, Jackalfeud prove to everyone that Northern Ireland is more than just shit music and being the forgotten part of Great Britain. If You Believe This has a little bit of a melodic side splashed in, like another inspiration of theirs – Deftones. It’s still got a heavy feel to it and shows that Jackalfeud have diversity – something bands need to stay alive these days. Revival kicks things off with a fantastic riff before tearing in to the rest of the song and tearing people’s faces off. It’s, once again, another brilliant piece of music – can you see where this is going? Jackalfeud are fantastic.
BEAST! is exactly that. A complete and utter beast of a song. A minute intro to the song may seem different for Jackalfeud but once it kicks in, it’s a crushing piece of hardcore excellence from the band. Title track Structures takes a while to kick in properly, seeming like a ballad or a slower song but whilst it may have Jackalfeud’s melodic side it’s still heavy and still brings out how fucking good the band are.
If anything is to be taken away from Structures, it’s that there isn’t a bad song on the EP. Jackalfeud sound like an established act when really they’re still up and coming and ready to take on the world. Enough of the arse licking and down to the simple point – Jackalfeud’s Structures is brilliant.
For fans of: Norma Jean, Brutality Will Prevail.
