Within The Ruins - Phenomena - guest review
Within The Ruins - Phenomena - guest review
Tracklist
01. Gods Amongst Men02. The Other
03. Calling Card
04. Hegira
05. Ronin
06. Enigma
07. Clockwork
08. Eternal Sunshine
09. Dark Monarch
10. Sentinel
11. Ataxia III
Guest review by
flightoficarus March 29, 2015
Those familiar to Within The Ruins will know what to expect sonically from their previous three outings. Joe Cocchi's guitar work sports a trademark level of condensed distortion that complements its schizophrenic bursts of highs and lows. The fusion of melody with maddening pattern changes brings to mind After The Burial, Meshuggah, Psyopus, Between The Buried And Me, and early solos from All That Remains. Yet despite similarities, one need only listen to the third installment of their "Ataxia" instrumentals to see that this is a monster all of its own.
This frenetic guitar work is complemented by equally challenging drumming and bass-guitar. To simplify, if Phenomena were a featured Guitar Hero/Rockband album, these would be the songs only for the 'LEET. While there is a fairly digital sound in the production of these instruments I tend to avoid, here it somehow complements an overall aesthetic not unlike cyber industrial or even 8-bit. Within The Ruins is the very pissed of ghost in the machine ready to assault you via any device with a wifi connection.
But let me put instrumentation aside for a moment to talk about the most unique aspect of the album: the aforementioned DC/Marvel concept. One could toss off Tim Goergen's metalcore-ish screams as typical lyrical tropes, but a deeper look at each song reveals a level of self-aware, and ultimately clever, dorkiness more in line with Mindless Self Indulgence. The crushing single, "Gods Amongst Men," is a conversation between Magneto and Professor X regarding how they should approach normal humans. Other favorites "Ronin" and "Calling Card" are about Wolverine and the Joker respectively. Everyone from Batman to Phoenix is covered in this album, and this adds an extra level of amusement to the songs that I found to be a breath of fresh air.
Final word: this was a no-brainer purchase for me the month it came out. Every song is killer and the dizzying guitar work is leaps and bounds above anything from the groups they get lumped in with. Furthermore, the chances taken on the lyrical concepts lead to some of my favorite scream-along moments of the year. "CRASH AGAINST HER AND BE BROKEN!" I am simultaneously in awe and laughing hysterically during certain moments, and what could be more fun than that?
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by flightoficarus | March 29, 2015
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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