23rd February 2020

Review: “Hate:Speech” EP by Jigokü

Formed in 2018 in Hungary by Gergely Magony (guitar), Ádám Balogh (vocals) and Gábor Kuczora (bass) after the dissolution of their previous band Forbidden Noise and starting out as a home studio project Jigokü was created with a desire to play dark and heavy music without being unnecessarily complex with some cathartic writings. After creating their early tracks as a trio, they reached out to Dávid Szekeres (ex-Godgiven) to help program the drum tracks after previously sharing stages before visiting Ghostship Recordings led by Harmed guitarist Gábor Tóth to record two tracks at the beginning of 2019. The results of the session, were the brutal pairing of “Third Cross” and “Molten Glass“. Szekeres joined full time and Ádám Antalfi replaced vocalist Balogh due to musical differences on amicable terms and the quartet have created together their debut EP “Hate:Speech“, once again produced, mixed and mastered by Gabor Toth at Ghostship Recordings…

…so that’s a brief history of Jigokü. Opening cut “Inevitable” is a fast one, a ripping Metallic Hardcore cut with galloping pace and frenetic energy. Skipping any form of solo Magony instead delivers Deathcore esq guitar squeals in a thoroughly headbangable cut that is littered with programming nuances that bleed out of the mix. “Tag (Funnymen)” received the full music video treatment and features some Fear Factory esq programming alongside some groove riffs while Antalfi vents his frustrations with a brutal raw vocal. Crossing the boundaries between Metallic Hardcore and Metal and back again with some high end breakdowns and tempo shifts with programmed gaps, it’s as heavy as it is engaging. The subject matter of the lyrics throughout express a dark hatred for corruption, influencers, mass media propaganda and so on but it’s all done in a way that the abrasive riffs and aggressive vocals could be applied to anything you’re wanting to vent about in the pit.

“CC (The Hate Anthem)” wastes no time with melody and instead drives home the nine inch nails that are the earlier tracks with it’s vicious vocal attack. Szekeres influence in the band is not to be underestimated as his nuances in the programming, with distorted patterns in the kit work, little background noises, change ups and all the rest bring different sounds to the mix which pop out at you over multiple listens. If we had a crystal ball, we’d say that this is very much the direction that bands like Vein will be heading in the future. Not letting up any of the relentless pace, “Shibo” brings more headbangable material with a relentlessly bludgeoning drum pattern and some choice guitar squeals in the opening onslaught. The surprise of a melodic drop out mid track before bringing it back will catch you off guard the first time around – vocally Antalfi doesn’t show off any cleans, instead his screams are buried into the melodic moment with the audio taking precedence. It’s that build back into an off-downtempo groove with spoken word parts that really makes the track and gives you a sense of where this band could be going [8/10]

Track listing