Ruin Lust exude a dystopian vision of ash and dust through an unrelenting attack on their third full-length, Choir of Babel. Visions of grey, bombed-out landscapes populated by ragged human leftovers bleed through with every roar of throat and distorted string.
Ruin Lust construct their own take on death metal, approaching it from an unorthodox angle of dissonance and discomfort, akin to a band like Hissing. "Prison of Sentient Horror," in particular, spirals on riffs that make the skin crawl with its dismal fall into oblivion. But the band still find opportunities to lock into more hammering and simple sections, as on "Bestial Magnetism," that feel almost militant, in the vein of Heresiarch, due in no small part to the monstrous vocal performance.
Choir of Babel is meant to oppress and cloud the mind rather than fire the blood with adrenaline. Moments not overflowing with sadistic maelstroms of hateful death are filled with the whine and shrieks of feedback noise, which further builds an atmosphere of modern disrepair. But the album suffers at times from a uniformity of approach to songwriting. While moments do stick out, much of Choir of Babel feels like a continuous stream of vitriol. The runtime is well portioned, but this lack of variation does show itself by the end.
*Exclaim! initially misstated the title of the album.
(20 Buck Spin)Ruin Lust construct their own take on death metal, approaching it from an unorthodox angle of dissonance and discomfort, akin to a band like Hissing. "Prison of Sentient Horror," in particular, spirals on riffs that make the skin crawl with its dismal fall into oblivion. But the band still find opportunities to lock into more hammering and simple sections, as on "Bestial Magnetism," that feel almost militant, in the vein of Heresiarch, due in no small part to the monstrous vocal performance.
Choir of Babel is meant to oppress and cloud the mind rather than fire the blood with adrenaline. Moments not overflowing with sadistic maelstroms of hateful death are filled with the whine and shrieks of feedback noise, which further builds an atmosphere of modern disrepair. But the album suffers at times from a uniformity of approach to songwriting. While moments do stick out, much of Choir of Babel feels like a continuous stream of vitriol. The runtime is well portioned, but this lack of variation does show itself by the end.
*Exclaim! initially misstated the title of the album.
