The Black Map #101: Jumpman from Watford!

In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four, Room 101 is the basement torture chamber of the Ministry of Love in which the Party subject prisoners to their own worst nightmares, fears or phobias to break their resistance. A novel that draws on the consequences of Government over reach, totalitarianism and mass surveillance, it would actually make the perfect subject matter for a concept album from Jumpman.

Earlier this week we reviewed the new single from Watford duo Eliot Foster (vocals, guitars) and Tom Cole (guitars, synths) by the name of “Shame“. They’re a band who produce agrophobic, abrasive and programmed aggression with raw guitars and Nintendocore synths that combine the videogame qualities of Zelda and 8-bit chiptunes with the raw power of Fosters vocals. The end result? Something that sounds like the early 90’s Earache or Peaceville Records bands. Remember playing the first version of Quake on the PC with it’s Nine Inch Nails soundtrack back in the day? Well Jumpman have captured a sound not too far away from that and used as the basis of their own beast of a hybrid. Intense, raw, energetic and addictively bizarre, they’re known for a live show that is jaw dropping. If you heard the new Doom orientated album from Spankraght then you need to give these guys a listen. You should start with their 2016 EP “Enclosed Instruction Book” with the brilliant “Drying Pan” before moving to 2018 EP “The Abyss“, while stand alone single “Lost Woods (Saria’s Song)” is arguably their most Nintendocore song to date.