Ruin

Vrenth – Succumb to Chaos Review

Vrenth – Succumb to Chaos Review

“Over the years, I’ve come to realize that death metal is more about the visceral reaction that your body and mind have to a barbaric aural bludgeoning than it is about memorability, and I’ve thus come to enjoy entire albums full of quality metal of the dead variety. But every once in a while, a death metal band comes along with the apparent intent of providing that same visceral journey while simultaneously providing riff after memorable riff, a host of unforgettable solos, and enough stylistic changeups to keep the listener on their toes. California’s Vrenth is just such a band.” Death with life.

Ruin – Spread Plague Death Review

Ruin – Spread Plague Death Review

“The main problem with death metal is that it’s boring as hell. That may seem rich coming from The Guy Who You Know Exists Only Because of His Profuse Writing About Death Metal, but that’s also why you’re here, isn’t it? You know death metal is boring. If you wanted to listen to boring-ass death metal, you would just do it. Instead, you come here to read articles written by over-educated losers who let you know ahead of time which records manage to make death metal not boring. Spread Plague Death is not one of them.” Zzzzzeath.

Ruin – Human Annihilation Review

Ruin – Human Annihilation Review

“The mystique surrounding Ruin — the band started in the ’90s, but members were incarcerated and institutionalized, and now their twisted musical vision is coming to life and they’re some sort of cult — seems, at the very least, exaggerated. To dive fully into — and thus to fully enjoy — their sophomore release Human Annihilation, we have to suspend our disbelief and think of Ruin not as a band but as a ‘death metal cult,’ as they would describe it. Only then can we dive into what they’re doing and what they seem to be trying to portray.” Metal from the big house.

Cor Scorpii – Ruin Review

Cor Scorpii – Ruin Review

“2018 has been a damn good year for folk-oriented black metal. Okay, quantitatively speaking, that’s not true at all; more accurately, there have been two particularly captivating releases in the new Sojourner and Vallendusk records that on their own have single-handedly carried the style in recent months. This seems more than a bit unfair to Norway’s Cor Scorpii. Formed from the ashes of Windir by drummer Steingrim and guitarist Strom (neither of whom are actually still in this band), their decade-in-the-making sophomore effort, Ruin, is relatively featureless when stacked against the current crop of folk-black trailblazers.” Folking in the ruins.

Wilt – Ruin Review

Wilt – Ruin Review

“The Angry Metal Promo Bin is a fickle mistress. She can conceal highly sought after treasures by surrounding them with infinite no-names, and she can trick you into believing that Rapture is Rapture. Worse yet, she mistags like a motherfucker, calling this genre that and slapping the black metal label on albums with wild abandon. It’s frustrating enough when selecting an unknown band only to find that she’s lied again, but there’s something even more personally offensive in seeing a band that you actually do know and love flagged under the wrong genre. Enter: Wilt’s Ruin, billed (like everything else) as black metal.” Black is the new bin.

Ruin – Drown in Blood Review

Ruin – Drown in Blood Review

“Hailing from Who-the-hell-knows-where, USA, the generically named Ruin originally formed in 1991, only to have its membership swallowed by time in the slammer and/or sanitarium. Reformed in 2015, they’ve sluiced out a swampy sort of old-school death metal their label promises will be reminiscent of early Abhorrence and Bolt Thrower.” Out of the penal league, into the venal league.