Jesters of Destiny

Seemingly the first band labeled Alternative Metal, Jesters of Destiny are back with their 5th LP, Drop Dead Rockin’/Jesters 88. As the title suggests, these are vintage tracks recorded in 1988, towards the end of the band’s first run thru the jungle. The Jesters first appeared on Metal Massacre V, released in 1984 on Metal Blade Records, alongside VoiVod, Overkill, Fates Warning and pre-Celtic Frost group Hellhammer. The band released Fun at the Funeral (1986) and In a Nostalgic Mood (1987) on Metal Blade. In ’88, the label dropped the band at which time they recorded some demos looking for a new label before calling it quits. Drop Dead Rockin’ are those demos. Three of the songs were released as bonus tracks on the CD-only reissue of Fun at the Funeral on Finnish label Ektro in 2001. Three other tracks were found on a 2-inch 24-track tape in Bruce Duff’s closet a couple years ago. Jesters founders Bruce and Ray Violet baked the tape, digitized it, finished overdubbing it (it was never quite completed), mixed and mastered. It was on a reel with “The Girl Can’t Help It” from Nostalgic Mood, which they remixed. The final song is a live performance captured on cassette of their version of Sabbath’s “Electric Funeral,” recorded at the L.A. street festival Sunset Junction, also in ’88. Jesters of Destiny first reunited in 2017 for the release of The Sorrows That Refuse to Drown and followed up with Distorting Everything in 2022, both on the fine Ektro/Full Contact label.