ALBUM REVIEW: Eclectic Ruiner – Blame Kandinsky
There aren’t many bands who’d have the guts to sell themselves as the “lovechild of BOTCH and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN” – if nothing else just to avoid the truly daunting comparisons such names bring with them. And yet Athens’ BLAME KANDINSKY clearly back themselves enough to do exactly that, inviting listeners into their world of chaotic metallic hardcore with their sophomore album Eclectic Ruiner to scratch an itch – at least on a surface level – for anyone who’s accepted the unlikelihood of ever getting new studio material from either of the bands mentioned (although we’re definitely learning to never say never).
As with most bands with such references in their press notes, what BLAME KANDINSKY really mean is they borrow from a particularly feral side of hardcore. That much is clear from the very first seconds of opener Vague, which blasts to life all mathy and angular and dissonant in pretty much exactly the manner one would expect. The comparisons are apt indeed, but as the track and record go on, it feels inadequate to stop there. There’s a bit of the riffy raucousness of EVERY TIME I DIE in the mix (great), some of bleak melody of BIRDS IN ROW perhaps (fine by us), and even some of the flashier guitar chops you’d expect from a band like PROTEST THE HERO for example (why not!?).
All the building blocks are there for a great time then, and with the band happy to let the songs run past the three, four and even five and six-minute marks, they have plenty of time and space both to stuff their tracks with ideas but also to let them breathe where they need to. Soon enough though, a central question arises which refers less to whether or not BLAME KANDINSKY can do the things many bands before them have done so well, and asks instead if they can capture the creative spirit and the individuality of the influences in question. Perhaps as you’d expect, the answer is ‘less so’; Eclectic Ruiner is great, but there isn’t really anything here that will be wildly unfamiliar to fans of this more chaotic side of hardcore already.
On the other hand though, there is probably an argument to be made that pulling all this stuff together in a cohesive manner makes this album unique enough, and that is definitely fair. Seventh track Gertrude really is excellent for example; it smashes together melody and dissonance alike as winding riffs and frantic fretwork drive a five-minute showcase of just how well BLAME KANDINSKY nail the many different aspects of their sound, while Lisp follows and adds an almost doomy groove to the list of ideas it throws at the wall. Even tenth track Chasten manages to impress late in the game, particularly as semi-melodic vocals repeat a deeply affecting final lyric of “God doesn’t want me and the devil isn’t finished” before the track fades to embers and into the last violent hurrah of closer Ego.
Ultimately, BLAME KANDINSKY might sound a lot like the obvious product of their influences, but as influences go you really couldn’t ask for better ones. At 44 minutes it might be just a touch too long, but Eclectic Ruiner is nonetheless a thrillingly furious experience made by a band who have a clear command of pretty much all of metallic hardcore’s most compelling elements. If they could just start to flesh out a little more of their own identity, then they could have something really special for us whenever album number three rolls around.
Rating: 7/10
Eclectic Ruiner is set for release on December 2nd via Venerate Industries.
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