Band:	For Ruin
Album:	Last Light
Style:	Melodic black metal
Release date:	October 30, 2009
A review by:	Bas

01. Enlightened [Instrumental]
02. Care Of The Dead
03. Decline
04. In Suffering
05. Solace
06. Recoil
07. Crawl [Instrumental]
08. Deluge
09. Cold Call
10. Elysium

From the green greens of Ireland comes the melodic black metal formation For Ruin, who released their second full-length at the end of October. While Ireland may be best known in the metal scene for acts like Primordial, Mourning Beloveth and Cruachan, For Ruin play an entirely different style.

Mainly a very melodic brand of black metal, it's infused with some thrash and melodic death elements as well as some obvious NWOBHM influences. The drumming leans towards the faster side throughout most of the album and the vocals are delivered as low and raspy growls.
The main focus of the music is always on the guitars though, playing melodic leads and switching between black and heavy metal.

Except for big fans of the genre, Last Light probably won't be very interesting though. It's a pleasant listen, but seems to lack personality and sounds samey despite mixing multiple styles. The musicians are able enough, but the music fails to impress. There's not a single really bad riff on the whole CD, then again there aren't any wow-riffs either. Unfortunately the pattern continues through the whole album and we're left with a record that doesn't have any major flaws but still leaves a shallow impression.

What For Ruin needs is a more personal touch to their sound as well as a few really badass riffs and solos to spice up their albums. Fans of (very) melodic black metal can just go ahead and check it out as the whole record can be downloaded for free on the band's homepage.

As it is the band is very listenable, but then again I'd rather use my time to listen to something else.