Finitude

From the UK we get Unfathomable Ruination.
I first discovered the band in 2011, randomly stumbling upon their first demo on Youtube. The first song “Echoes of Universal Futility” had an outro with melodic tapping that instantly stole my attention, in a time where I was still discovering Brutal Death Metal and craving more and more.

Fast forward to 2016. Finitude is the second full-lenght album from Unfathomable Ruination, following the crazy debut album “Misshapen Congegenital Entropy” and the top-notch EP “Idiosyncratic Chaos” which blew my mind upon release. I thought they had outdone themselves, so my expectations for this album were high.

Finitude is a really intense record, even for Brutal Death Metal. Lots of groovy drum patterns, slams, tempo changes, dynamic arrangements across the string-instruments and transitions with odd time-signatures. The song writing is playful and dynamic, but it does not get out of hand or turn into a “wankfest”, but stays stylistically within the genre of filthy, brutal death.

The drums deserve a special mention, as Doug Anderson (also formerly of Bloodshot Dawn) is like an octupus here. His speed, and his work with the arms makes me think of a modern Gene Hoglan (with gravity blasts and 240+bpm 16th note double bass while adding tasty fills and cymbal grooves). Also noteworthy are the vocals. Contrasting the general intensity and fast tempos of the music, the vocals are growled at a slow pace, which really adds to the chaos and makes them stand out. Now for the songs themselves...

Most of the album is high octane brutal death metal, as if Reign in Blood were rewritten for the modern death metal scene. It is heavy, and most riffing happens on the low strings. My favourite tracks, however, are the most melodic and dynamic songs. ”Pestilential Affinity” has a couple of chaotic solos, which resolves into a melodic tremolo picked riff after the first minute, and it is glorious! ”Neutralizer” has the most melodic intro of them all, almost Death-esque, and the intro also wraps up the song after the solos and a bass interlude. Finally, the outro on ”Forge of Finitude” is pure nostalgia for fans who listened to their first demo. A haunting melody played with fast tapping, to add chaos on top of the melancholy of the root melody.

I would love to hear more of these melodic moments. They fit the bands sound well, and really compliments the heavy riffs which can be found all over the album. The riffs can get a little monotone at times, but they only last till the next tempo change. Add those melodies and solos on top, and you have one of the best death metal albums of 2016!

Highlights: Pestilential Affinity, Neutralizer, Nihilistic Theorem, Forge of Finitude

This album wastes no time, so I won’t either. This album is absolutely phenomenal. If this album was a movie, it would be titled "Riffs: The Album." this album represents the ultimate goal of technical brutal death metal. Brutal death metal, even in its most technical forms, is centered around one thing: the riff. Whether they be sweeps, tremolos, slams, etc., the riff is still the lifeblood of brutal death metal. Yet after Suffocation, the glory days of Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, Devourment, Nile and Cannibal Corpse, which riffs are still left to riff? This is the million dollar question. Most bands answer by copying the riffs of the aforementioned bands and the likes. For this reason, it can be hard to find a truly great brutal death metal album these days that is more than just a copy of the band's influences. Well, look no more: Unfathomable Ruination is here. Sporting a great name and even better music, these guys answer the million dollar question their own way: they write their own really good riffs.

Though not tremendously innovative, their approach to brutal death metal is certainly atypical, and (dare I say it) relatively different from every other band. Some might even call them unique. These guys pull from wells like Death, Origin, Monstrosity, Dying Fetus, Iniquity, and even Deathspell Omega and Ulcerate. Already we can see these guys are far more variable than your typical BDM band. The songs here are a serpentine labyrinth of riffs. These songs have no predictable or easily followable structure. They move from riff to riff mercilessly. This is not an easily comprehended or digested album. There is always so much going that is very complex and technical, yet these guys never present a dull moment.

The first thing that sets this album apart is the drumming. The drumming here is a work of wonder. Doug Anderson is a beast, not only incredibly technical with inhuman endurance, but his drumming is super versatile as well. He does not solely rely on blastbeats, nor any other technique. He uses blasts and gravity rolls, of course, but he uses a lot of other beats as well. His fills are incredible and have a unique flavor to them. The nearest comparison of style would be to Lille Gruber, as they both are very technical and versatile. In certain songs he has a jazzy flair in sections, like in “Neutralizer” and “Forge of Finitude.”

Another plus is the vocalist. This guy sounds absolutely demonic, with his thick, guttural growls. And there are no briees or pig squeals, either, which make this album so much more enjoyable. This guy has some of the sickest growls I’ve ever heard, even approaching a style similar to old school Chris Barnes.

The music itself is awesome. These guys write some really good riffs. The riffs wind and twist and go from technical to supremely groovy in the blink of an eye. These guys don’t write one filler riff. They know exactly how to use the riff. I’ve heard a lot of people say that this album doesn’t have any riffs that stand out. I find that hard to believe because this is brimming to the top with great riffs. Some standouts include the riff at the beginning of “Thy Venemous Coils,” the opening riffs in “Neutralizer” and “Forge of Finitude,” and the groovy, slammy riff at the beginning of “Inhuman Reclamation.” These are not the only standouts. These are the most obvious. Every song is filled with great riffs. I think that the riffs are all super engaging and memorable. The song structures are a maze of riffs. There is no discernible pattern in terms of structure except for the formula of riff after riff after riff after riff. These may inspire fear in some, but don’t worry: each riff is great and, unlike a lot of other technical death metal bands, they are not afraid to repeat a good riff once or twice, making listening to this album so much more satisfying.

The lead guitarist here deserves his own paragraph. It’s not that he is a shred god (but he does some serious shredding on this album), or his technicality (which is jaw-dropping), but his leads and licks. Why? Because of his sense of melody. That’s right, he drops some seriously melodic solos and leads. Though he’s not afraid to use atonal notes and chords, he has an impressive sense of melody that makes each lick and solo so much more memorable and satisfying. He plays with a lot emotion in these melodic moments as well, which sets him apart from thousands of other tech death and BDM guitarists. Some standouts, though everything he does is great, include the solo in “Forge of Finitude,” the melodic riff in “Neutralizer” and solo in that song as well, and the basically all of his solos in every other song. His chromatic, atonal riffing contrasted with his very emotional and melodic leads and licks make this album so much more unique and enjoyable.

This album would not be complete without the production it has. This is the perfect production job. No, I don’t mean perfect as in squeaky clean and super sterile or compressed. The production fits the album perfectly is what I mean. The production is still very heavy and crushing, as is expected of most brutal death metal. Yet the production is actually quite clear, and you can hear the bass throughout most of the album. The guitars are thick and powerful yet can be distinguished. Yet the production is still thick and “brutal.” Despite this, the drums are perfect; they don’t drown anything out nor are they too quiet. The bass, as stated before, definitely has a clear presence through much of the album. The vocals are upfront and in your face, but not too in-your-face. Overall, the mix is not muddy; it’s rather clear. It’s this balance between clarity and brutal swampiness that really gives the album personality. It’s clear, yet it’s still kind of boggy, which makes it sound like it has life and vitality, like the music is being played by actual people, not machines. This imperfectly perfect production job really does take this album to the next level. It gives it much more personality and makes it much easier to listen to. It doesn’t sound like a bunch of robots playing music in a very sterile manner, (*cough cough* Necrophagist) nor does it sound like it was recorded in a wet ditch in Serbia. (hey there, _____ (insert name of generic BDM/slam band))

I have no complaints on his album. This album is a phenomenal technical brutal death metal album, certainly one of the best in the last 20 years. This album is the ultimate goal of technical brutal death metal: amazing riffs, phenomenal performances by each band member, and a level of memorability and engaging music that will make this an album worthy of spin after spin after spin. It never gets old, as you can literally find another great riff every listening session. Get this album now, before you miss out.

I didn't really think of it until now, but Unfathomable Ruination have actually been basically a sister band to Abnormality in my eyes. They both stormed out of the gate in 2012, with fantastic debut albums on a notoriously lame record label (Sevared Records), both of which were blisteringly fast, chaotic, and somehow also groovy and hooky brutal tech death albums that both blew me off my chair. Afterwards, they both went relatively quiet, only for them both to roar back in 2016 with their sophomore efforts, both of which utilizing artwork prominently featuring a fractured face in washed out color against a black background. That's... oddly specific, but interesting nonetheless. The big difference between the two at this stage in their careers is that Abnormality has since jumped ship to Metal Blade and have found themselves backed by the closest thing to a major label you can find in extreme metal, whereas Unfathomable Ruination finds themselves still nestled snugly within the roster of that shitty BDM label I will probably always have a grudge against (blame my brief time writing for Metal Crypt, when Sevared would swarm us with terrible, faceless promos by the dozen).

Abnormality had the upper hand four years ago, but at this point, the Brits have easily usurped their crown. Finitude here has one immediately recognizable strength above Mechanisms of Omniscience, that being the production. The Americans found themselves recording with an extremely sterile sound, with squeaky clean snares, muffled guitars, and vocals shoved in the foreground, whereas the UKers instead find themselves continuing with what worked before. The sound here is absolutely fucking savage, with guitars that carry a massively punishing crunch, drums that pound the living daylights out of you (including that signature pingy snare that 70% of all brutal death metal bands seem to utilize), and vocals relegated slightly into the background to act more as a secondary percussive force as opposed to a driving mechanism of the music. It's amazing how much of a difference these small tweaks make, as the former album sounds like a clinical exercise running in the background and the latter is more akin to a furious hellbeast dripping lava from every orifice. The little moments stand out so much more here, like the Cryptopsy-esque squeals that punctuate the blasting insanity of "Thy Venomous Coils", the ethereal introduction that leads to the crushing groove that drives "Neutralizer", to the neck twisting bass runs in "Nihilistic Theorem". It's amazing how a small difference like giving some added rawness to the production and restructuring the balance of the individual performances can sound like night and day on albums that are functionally identical.

And on that "identical" comment comes the album's lone flaw; despite the occasional standout licks like the ones posted above, the album is essentially just a plateau of insanity. Which is fine by me, personally, but when they have standout sections like that that show they can write a punishing groove or a killer hook or a memorable lead line it tells me that they can simply multiply whatever the hell they did during those moments to load the album down even further with great moments. As it stands, they're pretty few and far between and the band repeats a few of the same tricks here and there, but they're all done quite well so it's not really a problem when all is said and done. At the end of the day this is still a highly enjoyable romp through twisted depths of unending depravity.

I think the main thing that makes Unfathomable Ruination stand out in the crowd of samey tech death comes from something as simple as the songwriting. The band always sounds like they're coming apart at the seams and juuuuust holding together enough to throw in those knee buckling curveballs every now and again to keep things fresh. As soon as it seems like the drummer's arms are going to fall off and the vocalist is going to tear his own throat out, the pace will dip for a few bars and hammer you over the head with a Suffocation styled slamming groove. They even take a page out of Origin's playbook and close the album with an 8 minute scorcher that slows itself down for a good portion of the time. It's all kinda secretly brilliant. The thing with most tech death is that it never really sounds aggressive, so to speak. It's impressive, sure, and it's definitely heavy and fast, but it rarely carries a whole lot of fury outside of bands like Neuraxis and whatnot. Unfathomable Ruination, on the other hand, sounds fucking savage. Doug Anderson takes a more Alex Hernandez "flip the fuck out and play your whole drumkit at once" approach than a John Longstreth "focus really hard on not fucking up these lightning fast intricacies" one. The riffs are frantic and spastic but also grounded and simple enough at times to headbang yourself into a coma whilst playing. It's a perfect blend.

Long story short, this rocks like the stone age. Listen to it.


Originally written for Lair of the Bastard