Invade

BAM! That was Within the Ruin’s new album Invade punching you in the face. Intensity grinded with progressiveness and brutality mashed with technicality. This is the new era of progressive metal.

Within the Ruin’s first album “Creature” didn’t hold much for me, it had no originality and it felt like the same old progressive metal cd. I never really thought much of them afterwards, until Invade landed in my hands. I decided I may as well listen to it, just to see whether or not they had changed. Bloody hell! What an improvement.

Musically, they have matured and tried new things, but best of all they have stuck with their root sound, rather than shifting to a more generic sound. The album was produced to sound heavy and beefy, with loud guitars, earth rumbling bass (which you can actually hear) and fast, ear-splitting drums. The band it’s self has matured (as I stated before) lyrically and musically, which is seen in songs like “Versus” and “Feast or Famine”, and the song writing has bettered to more of a structured state. Their instrumental “Ataxia” is an interesting song and it really brought out all of the band’s musical ability.

One thing that did annoy me was the repetitive chug breakdowns, although it added intensity, they could’ve written a solo to add diversity. Tim Goergen’s vocals really suit the music more than the old vocalists, because of his amazing range. Another thing that stood out to me was the guitars, they manage to rip out amazing twin leads and screeching solos. This was something that appealed to me because most progressive metal bands wouldn’t use twins as much as Within the Ruin’s do. It proves that it works and adds a fast, brutal atmosphere each song.

The drumming this time around was better because of the faster, more thought out rolls around the kit in the songs and the offbeat drum beats. This stood out to me the most in “Invade” the band’s first single and title track. The new bassist also didn’t cease to impress me, because he plays in a dark, deep tone that makes the record the intense punch the face that it is.

All in all, the album is 10 times better than the first time around and at a perfect length of 40 minutes you really can’t go wrong.