For Ruin – Shade

[Perkele]

For Ruin – Shade
Self-financed – demo - 2005
By Katalin Sipos

Ireland’s For Ruin is a one-man band by John Murphy. According to the biography the band has existed since 2003 and Shade is already the band’s second demo. Perhaps we should date its existence back to 1998 becuase the first material - that was released on a split with Meiche (another Irish band) last year - was born between 1998 and 2004.

For Ruin’s music can be described as a mixture of melodic death and melodic black metal, with influences from bands like Rotting Christ and Dissection. They also have a melancholic, darker touch that brings up the names of Katatonia and Amorphis, but only in the atmoshperic aspects. And of course, John is proud of his Irish ancestry, as we can hear it in the instrumental interlude, ’Rinn Bearna’.

’Dread’ is a vigorous opener, showing the black metal side of the band, completed with melodic solos and slower tempos. The crushing riffing in the middle gives an interesting twist to the song, making it really enjoyable to listen to. It is enjoyable thanks to its variation, and already you know you can expect quality music on Shade. ’Vertigo’ follows, a simplier track compared to the first one, mainly becuase of its stronger, more straight-forward melodic death relish. It is not a bad track either, just less unique. ’Starling’ also has a strong melodic death feel, with half shrieking, half growling vocals. What I really liked about the song are John’s guitar lines. Sometimes these are pure heavy metal solos, at others thrilling riffs spoil us, giving a vivid vibe to the song. The aforementioned, Celtic influenced, instrumental ’Rinn Bearna’ is a quiet passage, taking us to the misty land of the emerald isle. ’Another Breed’ is the last For Ruin song on the demo. It starts as a furious black metal attack, with nicely hidden gutiarlines in the background, but after just half a minute Amon Amarth-like melodic death joins in. A nice, epic mixture results! But still there are some surprises left for us. Around the second minute acoustic guitars take the lead, to strengthen the epic feel of the song, while the strong riffs will make everybody headbang along. The CD closes with ’The 4th Knight of Revelation’, a Rotting Christ cover, and the Greeks can be pretty proud of this version of their song.

When I first got this promo, I really did not know what to expect. Ireland is not really famous for its metal scene and for first glance, judging after the cover pic, For Ruin did not seem too special either. And as always, the best things come from the unexpected. For Ruin is definitely a promising band, one we should keep an eye on in the near future. I am not saying he is gonna change the world with his music but it is definitely a breath of fresh air in the flood of melodic extreme music we have nowadays. Beside the instrumental track I especially enjoyed the songs ’Dread’ and ’Another Breed’, both of which show the real talent this guy is blessed with. I do not know what is in his mind for the next For Ruin release but I certainly have to hear that.


1. Dread
2. Vertigo
3. Starling
4. Rinn Bearna
5. Another breed
6. The 4th knight of revelation

8/10


Official For Ruin website

 

[flosskkii]

Thanks again Katalin for the positive review of Shade.

Look out for a For Ruin interview here on UM.com soon!

 

[flosskkii]

other reviews are online at the media section of www.forruin.com

 

[flosskkii]

bump

 

[flosskkii]

Review of new demo 'OBSIDIAN' is coming here soon - other reviews of same are pretty good so far -

Now up on MetalIreland.com

Any Irish scene dweller may well think they’ve heard enough about For Ruin. The truth however is that you’re about to hear a whole lot more. If main man John’s indefatigable efforts on behalf of his solo venture turned powerful live band seem at times tiring, its only because most bands don’t realise what it actually takes to get anywhere. And if ever a band deserved to get anywhere, it is without a shadow of a doubt For Ruin. Promo after promo, review after innumerable review, the groundswell of positivity created by their gut busting work ethic has given them the confidence to pen with clarity and conviction this absolutely brilliant demonstration of what is still possible in metal songwriting.

Extreme metal has dullened. It isn’t made any more like it used to be at its creative peak in the mid nineties. The magic of the European underground, the fervour of actually supporting it, the real marriage of theme, idea and music, are things that have been largely quashed under the business of it all. Could you really see a record like ‘HEart Of The Ages’ coming out now? Maybe. But it wouldn’t be the same. For Ruin however are still, mercifully, doing it like it should be done. In a description you’re going to read ten times or more, their mix of old Katatonia, In The Woods, Rotting Christ and the unlikely pinch of Death is simply fucking flawless. And even better than that, these descriptions are largely besides the point.

Which is that this is music of feeling. It is metal made because it has to be, and not just because it can. Only after repeated listens does the class of these five tracks really start to take on a life of its own. Though this stuff is memorable from the off, its only with ripening that the overarching quality of it all really sinks in. Listen to ‘Treading 06’, a haunting instrumental track in a style that hasn't been essayed by anyone here since Lunar Gate. This heady, poignant mix of Thin Lizzy’s romance, Anathema’s autumn colours of old (remember ‘Scars Of The Old Stream&#8217, and an irrefutable evocation of windswept Ireland is an exemplary work of metal balladry.

Several years ago I wrote of Mourning Beloveth that they succeeded where Cruachan and Waylander didn’t, in that like Primordial, they caught this country’s celtic musicality without recourse to the quaint. So too now have For Ruin, if you’ll pardon me while I wipe the mawkish green from my eyes. This is brilliant, intelligently written metal sounding like it came from a place we’d never get to be again. So much of what is good about it can stay unspoken, because it doesn’t need detailed. 'Obsidian' is just a genuine achievement, full of authenticity and character. It would have been an easy thing to have lobbed this up as album of the month and be smug in championing it. But they’re a smarter band than that, and have wisely held out against a deal just yet. So they’ll have what’s better. They'll have demo of the year.

Ciaran Tracey ::: 06/11/06

and coming soon on Live4metal.com:

For Ruin – Obsidian demo (Self Financed)

Ah, the long awaited return of the current gem in the crown of Northern European underground metal. To say I have been looking forward to this is something of an understatement. From their very first split demo, I have thought that this is a band with the capacity to produce some amazing music. While previous releases have been heavy on ideas and skilful in song composition, they have always sounded like a band that has still to come of age…until now, that is.

Irelands finest metal export since, well, Guiness draught cans, has skilfully wrought five amazing tracks of melancholic, doomy melodic death. I don’t really do the music justice in describing their sound thus, but if you took a big melting pot, and threw in pure ground early Katatonia, dashes of Gothic era Paradise Lost, some Terminal Spirit Disease At The Gates leaves and leave to simmer over a bed of 1000 lakes era Amorphis, you’d still only have a dish half as tasty to the ears as these songs. The songs are sharper than ever before, seemingly honed to a particularly fine edge, with not even the merest hint of filler within. Magnificent, clean guitar melodies soar over the music with much greater aplomb than the For Ruin than ever before. The new found line up has taken the foundations of the old sound, and built a mighty musical fortress atop of it.

The whole package is available in some particularly fine, lush packaging, much more professional than many major label releases that get sent my way. It is clear that this really is a labour of love for John Murphy et. Al., and let me tell you, the hard work and effort is really starting to strike home. This is head and shoulders above any other demo I have had the fortune to hear this year, and to be honest, up there with the big leagues in full-priced releases. The metal press has, of course, crowed long and hard about the resurgent metal scene in Ireland. My only fear is that this clamour might detract from what is surely the best unsigned band on the planet.

If there’s any semblance of fairness in the music business, this lot will find themselves signed and promoted heavily – and if you want the maximum cred points for what will, I’m sure, become a major force in metal in the years ahead, then it’s best that you get aboard for the ride now. In one word: essential.

www.forruin.com

Chris Davison

Cheers!
J

 

[BrandonS]

Woah woah, I thought this was a review, but it turned into some kind of shameless plug thread.... And it's old as heck!