01. The Haunted Moon
02. Four Seasons Of Grey
03. Nocturne
04. Vampire, Garden Of Thorns
05. Forest Of The Impaled
06. Black Thorns
07. Beyond The Black Lake
08. The Gathering Storm

I still remember that day when my local music store had this campaign with old CDs for two bucks. This one looked quite nice so I gave it a try and today I can proudly say that this is the best price-performance ratio I ever got! It was stunning from the first listen and continues to be even after dozens and hundreds of listens. And for me it is quite the biggest shame in metal that this is neither popular nor even well-known.

To clear up some facts first, In Ruins are a melodic death doom metal band hailing from the USA. They started in 1996 and have released two albums. Four Seasons Of Grey is from 1998 and therefore belongs in the time of masterpieces such as Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields and the former Cradle Of Filth albums. CoF? Well musically they are quite different, but the stories also tell of Vampyres and the atmosphere resembles to Dusk... And Her Embrace, whereas musically Empyrium are a good band to compare with.

Now let's see was this record has to offer. Eight songs clock for about 45 minutes and include two instrumental pieces. We have a great variety of styles: both acoustic and harsh passages, spoken and growled vocals, heavy doom and fast death metal sound. Keyboards are used and what is one of the best sides of this album are the heavy metal-like guitar solos, which are played perfectly. All songs are catchy and manage to stay with their melodies in the ear, and since Four Seasons Of Grey is from a rising era of extreme metal (except thrash metal), it sounds very original and could have been a mile stone in mixing various styles with doom if it only got more attention.

It is easy to get an idea of what this album consists of by listening to only a few songs. Tips for listening are the title track and "Vampire, Garden Of Thorns." Both songs are long and contain several different passages with awesome guitar harmonies. In between them the acoustic track "Nocturne" is one of the best I have heard yet, quite happy riffing in the beginning, then a mighty and glorious medieval melody. Regarding the production, one can truly say that it is not as heavy and deep as it could be, since the guitar sound is somehow in the background, though it is very clear. Whether this was made on purpose or not does not matter for me, it only adds more atmosphere into the whole scenery.

Overall this is a glorious album and actually a must have for fans of the earlier doom metal community which played the music not as monotonous as modern doom bands but more various with different instruments and styles in it. I know this review won't help the fact that this album will stay quite unknown forever, but I want to give you, dear listener, the chance to discover a jewel in metal history!