Psychedelic Punk-Metal band Joe La Truite released their second self-produced album, ‘Ultimate Ninja Storm 2: Full Zguen,’ and video singles through Full Zguen Records in 2025. With this, their second full-length album firmly established Joe La Truite in the global underground music scene.
Reviews are unanimous in praising Joe La Truite’s new music as a genre-bending, mind-melting fusion of punk, metal, and psychedelic lunacy delivered with controlled chaos!
Listening to the first video single ripped from the album, you could be forgiven when your Punk/Metal ears begin to twitch. Bad Death City kicks off with a 20-second, 80s hip-hop vocal intro before launching into its Heavy Metal, dystopian, noir-infused world, dripping with rage. The song reflects the hardened streets and characters of a southern French village through the youthful eyes of Julien Lipard (songwriter/guitarist/vocalist), who grew up there.
“Bad Death City, is more than just a song; it is an experience, a statement, and an explosion of sonic rebellion.” – Rick Jamm – Jamsphere
“Ultimately, ‘Bad Death City’ is an enthralling slice of bold experimentation. Joe La Truite confidently blur genre lines, crafting a track that’s catchy yet complex, bright yet gritty, and both nostalgic and refreshingly innovative.” Click Roll Boom – UK
Bad Death City, Joe La Truite fuses the experimental sound of the great progressive punk/metal bands, delivering a unique blend of hard-hitting punk energy, psychedelic elements, and metal madness. – Heavymag – Australia
No such confusion with the delivery of the band’s second video single, ‘Light Speed’, which throttles at hypersonic speed from the launch pad on a chase through the universe to save JLT.
“Joe La Truite exploits the intuition of the master Les Claypool, but in the blink of an eye it transforms Light Speed into a bizarre punk/metal monster with the head of Dog Fashion Disco and the body of early System Of A Down.” – Rock Hard – Italy
“Light Speed is pure adrenaline—punk energy, metal riffs, and just the right amount of weird. It kicks off fast and doesn’t let up, like getting thrown into a mosh pit on a spaceship.
The vocals jump between manic and melodic, the guitars are punchy, and the drums drive everything forward with tons of energy. The music video is a trippy space rescue mission with deranged characters and total mayhem.” Giovann – Given To Rock – UK
Joe La Truite’s third video single, “Octogone 8000”, released four weeks before the album, received worldwide recognition and Airplay, with the track’s chaotic video scenes, a sight and sound to behold.
“Octogone 8000 is not just a song, it’s an event, a spectacle, a multi-sensory uppercut that leaves your ears ringing and your imagination spinning. It’s music as mythology, delivered with electric conviction by a band that thrives on pushing every boundary they encounter.” Lucy Cicioni at Euro Indie Charts.
Joe La Truite unleashes “Octogone 8000”, a kaleidoscopic battle cry of pure sonic chaos. Joe is here not just to fit in with the crowd but to break the mould and create something entirely fresh and fun. Zillions Magazine
Ultimate Ninja Storm 2: Full Zguen was launched to a packed house in Marseille’s Leda Atomic venue and continued from where the singles left off.
The older ones among you may remember Cosmic Wurst, a hardcore/fusion band from the late 1980s, which featured the debut of the extraordinary bassist Nicolas Baby (also known as Niktub, who would later co-found FFF with Marco Prince). It’s probably a coincidence, but you’d swear that Joe La Truite, 35 years later, has decided to take over from CW with his album Ultimate Ninja Storm 2: Full Zguen. The mix of genres is a gigantic cosmic fiesta of angry, mixed-up punk, fed on metal and dance music, played and sung by guys whose madness cannot hide their formidable technical skills.
The album goes completely off course in all directions, but make no mistake: the sound engineered behind this organised chaos is titanic. In turn, we encounter the spirit of Fishbone (“Bad Death City”), Porno For Pyros (“Cosmozouk”) and (“Speed Race” and its story-rumbling bass).
Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 thus presents an ultra-versatile power trio that is ‘serious in its madness’ and which, without a doubt, must take on an extra dimension on stage. Don’t be put off by the band’s name, which might make you think they’re a second-rate alternative combo: like their uncles, JLT has the firepower of a cruiser and competition-grade guns. Delightful!
– Hard Rock Magazine – France
