| CD REVIEW For Ruin |
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Band : For Ruin Originally, this Cork (South of Ireland) based Melodic Death/ Black Metal act was founded in 2003 as the solo studio outing of one John Murphy, whom had been writing music as far back as 1997-98. First demo Split came about by chance after former Belurius frontman Taramis asked Murphy to play drums and guitar on a four cover tracks on a primitive Black Metal styled release under the name Melche. In return Taramis sang vocals to 5 songs Murphy had been writing, and these became the For Ruin part of the 2004 Melche/ For Ruin split demo (released after Murphy had moved to Valencia, Spain). Sent out to media, the hastily put together CD (which contains songs which were re-recorded on the 2nd and 3rd demo, and some eventually made it to the debut album) nevertheless got some positive reviews from local and international press. The later re-issue (around the time of the release of the 3rd demo in late 2006) of the demo included 3 additional covers by For Ruin. Soon after his move to Spain, Murphy started writing and recording new material (using electronic drums rather than acoustic ones, as he was living in an apartment), which led to the 2005 6-track demo Shade. As the first demo had taken some delay to get released, it seemed to many that the two demos had come out rather quickly after each other, and many reveled about the positive evolution with increased melodic elements in the material on the one, and the tightness of the drum section on the other hand. Murphy returned to Cork in October 2005, immediately wrote 2 new songs, re-arranged/ re-recorded two songs off the first demos, intending the 4 tracks as label bait. But then, in November 2005, he was joined by the members that would make out the band's first full line-up, which played its debut gigs in February 2006. In mid 2006 (a Dublin gig with Reverend Bizarre) that first line-up played its last gig. Around Nov. 2006 the decision was made to release the songs recorded a year before as the Obsidian demo. The first line-up change was the induction of drummer Barrytron (of I'll Eat Your Face repute) in Summer 2006, followed by a change of guitarist and bassist in the persons of Drew Meyers (of Hallowed) and Barry O'Sullivan respectively. On December 6, 2006, the new band played at the Winterfest in their hometown, an event which they had recorded to video and gave a limited release on DVD in January 2007, titling it Live At Winterfest. The Obsidian demo eventually got the attention of several labels, 4 of which were taken into consideration, after which the band signed a 2-album deal with Dublin based Sentinel Records in January 2007. They opted to start recordings for their official debut album December on their own at Murphy's home (part of the reason being that Murphy was to become father shortly after (his son was born in August). The album was released in September, and although Murphy himself felt he hadn't given the recordings the attention they warranted, the album was reasonably well received (with exception for a less than flawless production). Having already played some gigs throughout the end of August (with a support gig to Napalm Death as the highpoint), the band then supported Massacre and Extreme Noise Terror before exchanging their bass player for Peter Lawlor (Carnun Rising, Abhor) right before 2007's Winterfest, where they played main support to Primordial (whom they supported again a couple of weeks later). That gig would become Barrytron's last gig with the band, whom was replaced in February 2008 by original drummer Steve O'Connell. 2008 was a real slow year for FR, who played only 3 gigs then (including a last-minute asked Winterfest,playing immediate support to Amon Amarth). With Murphy already having written some 4 or 5 songs since mid 2007, he collaborated on 5 other songs with Lawlor and Myers, and by mid 2008 the band had some 10 new songs ready to be recorded for a new album. Discussions with Komodo Studiosabout the production of the new album had started in January '08, but sessions originally planned for October were then pushed back to early 2009 for a variety of reasons. In August Murphy and O'Connell recorded drum track demos for pre-production, just before the drummer moved to Switzerland to continue his education. The rest of the music and vocals were added to the demo after that, and the demos were finished in October. By then the band had settled to record with Alwyn Walker, so they sent him the demo, started on a busy rehearsal schedule. In January 2009 the band entered the Komodo Mobile Studio in Mallow near Cork, and recorded enough material for the Last Light album, which they released themselves in October (Halloween) that same year. As a precursor to the full-length they also released the digital-only EP Enlightened in September, containing 2 songs from the forthcoming album, an early demo recording of one of those, a remix of a track from the December album, and an exclusive new track. In April '09 the guys played support to Paradise Lost and Rotting Christ in Belfast, and shortly after replaced the drummer for Pete Alcon (known from Runemaster and Alestorm). Features on the band appeared in Hot Press (Ireland), Metal Hammer (UK, December), Terrorizer (UK, interview in February 2010 issue, a song on the band's covermount sampler Fear Candy in January). In early April the band was planned to do a first short UK tour in support of the album, playing support to Belphegor... (For a more detailed and elaborate story, check the biography section at the band's website (www.) forruin.com)...but the tour fell through at the last moment. For their Dublin show in May, Bolt Thrower expressly invited For Ruin as support to the show, stating they were “...the best band that applied for the opening slot...” on any of the shows in the European tour with Rotting Christ. More gigging came in September, and that's also when French label Adipocerestarted the distribution of Last Light in their country. Well, meanwhile contact was made with Casket Music/ Copro Records as well, and that's after all how we got to review the album. Not surprisingly, the band has already been writing new songs, some of which they've already played live on the band's last gig of 2010. The guys then went into a rehearsal mode...probably to record new material? However, in the meantime there's still the official release of Last Light to discover! If you're into Melodic Death Metal with Blackened vocals, this band may well be something you'll utterly enjoy!To get acquainted with FR music, listen and enjoy to the songs posted at (www.) myspace.com/forruin (5 songs in total, 3 of which off Last Light). If you're into visuals, surf to the band's own website and click “listen” underneath “Last Light – the new album from For Ruin” to find 3 live recorded clips plus an EPK for Last Light. Personally, I don't get to review too many Extreme Metal albums (we actually have a genre specialist for that)...so whenever one comes my way it always gets some extra attention. Well, with For Ruin I was immediately taken in! Great melodic music with enchanting guitars, powerful drum bashing, great bass foundations, and a singer whom with his typical Black Metal style sends the chills up and down your spine...I was lost from the first track, and enjoyed the album throughout! Definitely among the better stuff released through this label, and therefore deservant of my uttermost appreciation. Hence also the inclusion in my year-lists...but I'm still pondering on which year it should be placed in! 98/100 Tony. |