ALBUM REVIEW: Graves Of Ceaseless Death – Ruinous
New Jersey death metallers RUINOUS, are about to release their debut full length album Graves of Ceaseless Death. The members to this band alone make quite the discography in terms of previous or current bands, bringing in certain aspects of their individual experiences. One band that all members have in common are death metal band FUNEBRARUM, with releases such as Beneath the Columns of Abandoned Gods and The Sleep of Morbid Dreams, you just know to expect something with a gruesome and aggressive sound and will definitely leave any death metal fan in complete awe.
RUINOUS hit the deck running the first song The Tombs of Blasphemy with heavy ringing notes with a melodic riff over the top, this makes for an excellent start to this song also being a perfect start to the debut album. The band pound their instruments on simultaneous notes dropping straight into low down echoing growls, then progressing to a slower riff with drums focused on the ride cymbal and fast double pedals. A melodic and technical solo begins to rip through the under layer of the song giving it great depth and detail easily making any metal head begin to nod, they then once again have great use of the double kick until finishing suddenly.
The second song on this album is Transfixed on the gate it begins off with an impressive distorted bass riff that instantly gets the head moving, feeling the pure aggression as the guitars start riffing alongside with shattering vocals. Then follows a section of double kicks used in a sequence of intervals as build up to destructive blast beats with a ripping guitar solo from Alex Bouks. The song then slows right down to a calming doom sound creating atmosphere for the listener before finishing off with the band all striking notes simultaneously before fading out quickly. The aggression and overall sound in this track are outstanding.
Another great song out of the nine track armory is the glorious 11 minutes and 28 seconds Through Stygian Catacombs. This song starts by using an immense death doom sound with sustained riffs and slow drumming that will make anyone feel like they’re floating threw dark unknown realms of darkness. Then the low down, gritty growls of Matt Medeiros begin to resonate alongside the doom sound until a solo slowly begins to shred leaving the listener amazed, The band have a great use of palm muting to make the guitars sound extremely heavy. Shawn Eldridge’s drumming uses the double bass very in this track well until out of the abyss come blast beats changing the whole songs pace, until slowing right down again to get the low down, raw, heaviness sound with an almost evil black metal vibe. They then have a heavy breakdown this is a great way to finish off this master piece of art.
Graves of Ceaseless Death will definitely be one to watch as it has good mixture of genres that make it such a great listen. Hopefully we will be expecting more from RUINOUS in the future but for now, prepare yourself for ceaseless death!
Rating 8/10
Graves of Ceaseless Death is out now via Dark Descent Records.
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