Purge and Purify

The reason why I am not the biggest fan of modern Metal is that most bands take the most simplified riffs and harmonies and use a glossy production to hide the boring songwriting. On top mostly primitive melodies and refrains are used making this kind of music accessible to really anyone on the very first listen. Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely do not hate modern Metal or any other kind of music (as long as it does not personally hurt other persons). It just really is not my kind of thing.

Voice of Ruin is a pretty young band from Switzerland playing a form of more modern Death Metal. I have stumbled over one of their tracks on YouTube and I have been immediately hooked. Despite having this very polished and modern sound on the surface their music has a certain rawness and just enough grit that sets them apart from other similar bands. The riffing is powerful and there is a lot of variation to keep things interesting. The interplay between the hard-hitting basis chords and the lead elements works as powerful combination and gives the music the right balance between heaviness and melodies.

The guys have a good feeling of implementing enough catchiness to make the music quite accessible without crossing the border to cheesiness. We are still talking about “real” Metal here and not Alternative Rock or any kind of Pop Core. The guitar work is quite traditional in places and more chugging in other. Voice of Ruin have added a few twists in the songwriting with breaks where I did not expect them or well-timed tempo and rhythm changes. Most songs have a surprisingly complex structure with subtly implemented details so that none of the tracks can be called samey or boring.

Although the riffs and the rhythmic backbone of the music have traditional touches there are elements that underline this modern feeling I have been talking about. One of these aspects are the vocals that are delivered in great tone hitting every note but enter Metalcore territory in a few sections. This is not necessarily a bad thing but some purists might find something to criticize. To my ears they are perfectly fitting to the instrumentation and the singer has a powerful voice adding to the overall intensity of the sound.

The production is absolutely powerful and flawless. Whoever did the mix managed to perfectly balance the single instruments without giving the overall sound sterile touch. Especially the drums are extremely punchy and right in your face. Rounded off by a very nice cover this album is a nice little gem. All I can say is that anyone looking for a nice slab of melodic yet aggressive music could much worse than checking out this band.