Sleeping Village Reviews
  • REVIEWS
  • PREMIERES
  • INTERVIEWS
  • WRITING SERVICES
  • FEATURES
  • LABEL
  • WRITERS
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!

RITUAL IN RUIN - Of Myth And Slander (Review)

2/1/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Bane Ov Silence

​Unbowed is one of the best kept secrets in the music world today. For the uninitiated, Unbowed is a melodic death metal band from Ontario, Canada. The group incorporates elements of folk and black metal--it all comes together into an experience that every fan of extreme music should take the time to listen to. While I’m not usually a huge fan of melodic death metal, Unbowed's last album, Through Endless Tides, was my runner up for album of the decade. When I saw that Alex Snape, the guitarist and a founding member, was planning on releasing a solo EP under the guise of Ritual in Ruin, I jumped at the chance to review it.

In short, Ritual in Ruin is the darker black metal version of Unbowed. All the songs still carry the triumphant and cinematic feel of Through Endless Tides, but the guitar tone and vocals give the songs a much darker atmosphere. It seems contradictory to make an album that is simultaneously triumphant yet also dark and sinister, yet here, it works very well.

The most notable part of Of Myth and Slander is the guitar work. While every aspect of this record is great, Snape shows off his guitar chops moreso here than he has on past releases. Every riff is melodic and epic, and will sound very familiar to anyone who has listened to Unbowed before. As a matter of fact, the record sounds like ideas that didn’t quite make it on to Through Endless Tides, which isn’t an insult to the songs on the record. As a matter of fact, I would consider it a compliment. These are also some of the best solos that Snape has written. While they aren’t the most technical solos I’ve ever heard, they are melodic and hold my attention throughout the course of the whole record.

The production on the record is a mixed bag. The guitars sound clear in the mix, yet still have a solid amount of distortion which I enjoy. The overuse of ambient interludes is aggravating, and to be frank, all of them suck. Normally three minutes worth of interludes wouldn’t be a big deal, but it is a major issue when an album is only fifteen minutes long. The drums lack any power, and sound flat. The drumming itself is competent, but it clearly wasn’t the central focus of the record. The vocals have so many effects on them that they sound so distorted that trying to make out any of the lyrics is futile. While they are solid, they pale in comparison to Ioan Tetlow’s vocals in Unbowed. While I do thing that the record would have benefited from a better drummer and a different vocalist, it doesn’t detract too much from the album since the guitar work is just that good.

While I’m not sure where this is going to rank amongst the rest of Snape’s work, I definitely think that he should be proud of this release. While it is rough around the edges, nothing detracts too much from the experience as a whole. Seeing as the record is only fifteen minutes, and about a fifth of that is ambient interludes, this is worth your time, but maybe skip the interludes ("Intro" and "Old Wounds.") While it might be premature, I could easily see Ritual in Ruin popping up on my end of the year list.

Ritual in Ruin - ​Of Myth and Slander was released Jan. 20th, 2020

Ritual in Ruin can be found:
Bandcamp
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome!

    We provide thoughtful reviews of music that is heavy, gloomy...and loud enough to wake us from slumber. Written by a highfalutin peasantry!


    What are ye
    ​ 
    looking for?

    All
    2020
    420
    Acoustic
    Adam Paris
    Albums Of The Decade
    Albums Of The Year
    Alex Bringer Of Payne
    Alternative
    Alternative Metal
    Alternative Rock
    Alt Metal
    Alt Rock
    Ambient
    Ambient Metal
    Americana
    Ancienthand
    Ancient Hand
    AOR
    Aoty
    Apocalypse
    Art Rock
    Arzou
    Atmoblack
    Atmospheric
    Atmospheric Black Metal
    Atmospheric Doom
    Avant Garde
    Avant-garde
    Avant Garde Black Metal
    Avant Garde Death Metal
    Ballad
    Bane Ov Silence
    Baroque Metal
    Beaston Lane
    Beatdown
    Bestial
    Best Of The Year 2018
    Blackened
    Blackened Crust
    Blackened Death
    Blackened Deathcore
    Blackened Death Metal
    Blackened Doom
    Blackened Grind
    Blackened Punk
    Blackened Sludge
    Blackened Thrash
    Blackgaze
    Blackie Skulless
    Black Metal
    Black N Roll
    Blastbeasts
    Blastbeats
    Blood Metal
    Blues
    Blues Metal
    Blues Rock
    Breakcore
    Breakdown
    British Metal
    Brutal
    Brutal Death Metal
    Cantina
    Captain's Chronicles
    Captains Chronicles
    Capt Graves
    Carlos
    Cavern Death Metal
    Chaotic Death Metal
    Chaotic Hardcore
    Chaotic Metal
    Chinese Metal
    Chiptune
    Christian Metal
    Classic Albums
    Classical Crossover
    Classic Metal
    Classic Rock
    Comic
    Compilation
    Continuous Thunder
    Core
    Cosmic
    Country
    Cover Songs
    Crossover
    Crossover Thrash
    Crust
    Crust Punk
    Cyberpunk
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Pop
    Dark Rock
    Dbeat
    D-beat
    Deathcore
    Death Doom
    Death-doom
    Deathgrind
    Death Metal
    Death Thrash
    Debut Album
    Demo
    Depressive Black Metal
    Desert Rock
    Digital Hardcore
    Disco
    Djent
    Doom
    Doom Death
    Doomgaze
    Doom Metal
    Doom Punk
    Doomviolence
    Double Review
    Dreampop
    Dream Pop
    Drone
    Dsbm
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dungeon Synth
    Ecological
    Editorial
    Edm
    Electronic
    Electronic Rock
    Emo
    EP
    Epic Doom
    Epic Metal
    EP's
    Experimental
    Experimental Electronic
    Extreme Metal
    Fantasy
    Favorite Music
    Finnish Metal
    Florida Death
    Folk
    Folk Black Metal
    Folk Metal
    Folk Rock
    Free Jazz
    Funeral Doom
    Fuzz
    Garage Rock
    German Heavy Metal
    Glam Metal
    Glam Rock
    Goregrind
    Goth
    Gothic
    Gothic Metal
    Goth Metal
    Goth Rock
    Grind
    Grindcore
    Groove Metal
    Grunge
    Guest Post
    Guest Review
    Hallucinatory Black Death Metal
    Hardcore
    Hardcore Doom
    Hardcore Punk
    Hardcore Sludge
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Grinder
    Heavy Metal
    Heavy Psych
    Heavy Rock
    Hip Hip
    Hip Hop
    Horror
    Hxc
    Icelandic
    Immigrant Core
    Immigrind
    Indie
    Indie Rock
    Indonesia
    Industrial
    Industrial Metal
    Industrial Rock
    Instrumental
    Italian Metal
    Izzy
    Japanese Metal
    Jazz
    Legends
    Lichtmensch
    Lord Hsrah
    Lovecraft
    Loveloth
    Mathcore
    Mathgrind
    Math Rock
    Melodeath
    Melodic Black Metal
    Melodic Death Metal
    Melodic Doom
    Melodic Metal
    Memorial
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Metalhead World
    Metallic Hardcore
    METAL MENAGERIE
    Metalreviews
    Metal Reviews
    Modern Rock
    Murder Metal
    Music Review
    Music Video
    Mystic
    Negative Reviews
    Neofolk
    Nerdy
    New Age
    Nintendocore
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Nu Metal
    NWOBHM
    NWOTHM
    Occult
    Occult Rock
    Old School Death Metal
    OSDM
    Ozzy Osbourne
    Pagan Metal
    Peasantrys Picks
    Pirate Metal
    Pop
    Pop Metal
    Pop Punk
    Pop Rock
    Portal
    Post Black Metal
    Post-black Metal
    Post-classical
    Post-genre
    Post Hardcore
    Post-hardcore
    Post Metal
    Post-metal
    Post Punk
    Post-punk
    Post Rock
    Post-rock
    Post Sludge
    Post-sludge
    Power Electronics
    Power Metal
    Powerviolence
    Prehistoric
    Preorder
    Prog Metal
    Progressive Black Metal
    Progressive Death Metal
    Progressive Metal
    Progressive Rock
    Prog Rock
    Psychedelic
    Psych Rock
    Punk
    Punk Rock
    Raw Black Metal
    Record Label
    Reese
    Relaxing
    Retro Rock
    Retrospective Review
    Review Off
    Review Redux
    Reviews
    Riffs
    Rock
    Rock N Roll
    Sabbath
    Sabbath Sunday
    Sadboi
    Saxophone
    Scorpi
    Screamo
    Shane Thirteen
    Shoegaze
    Short Reviews
    Singer-songwriter
    Ska
    Skramz
    Slam
    Sleeping Village Records
    Sleeping Village Sampler
    Slipknot
    Sludge
    Sludge Metal
    Soliloquist
    Solo Act
    Sound Design
    Soundtrack
    Southern Rock
    Space Rock
    Speed Metal
    Split
    Star Wars
    Statement Of Intent
    Stenchcore
    Stoner
    Stoner Doom
    Stoner Metal
    Stoner Rock
    Story Review
    Stream
    Surf Rock
    Swedeath
    Swedish Death Metal
    Symphonic Metal
    Synth
    Synthpop
    Synthwave
    Talesofdeception
    Techdeath
    Tech Death
    Technical Death Metal
    Texas
    The Administrator
    The Dungeon Awaits
    The Voiceless Apparation
    Thevoicelessapparition
    The Voiceless Apparition
    The Voiceless Appartition
    Thrash
    Thrashcore
    Thrash Metal
    Threefoldtreatise
    Torture Doom
    Track-premiere
    Track Review
    Track Reviews
    Trad Doom
    Traditional Doom
    Traditional Metal
    Trad Metal
    Tribute Album
    True Doom
    Underground
    Usbm
    Vaporwave
    Vattghern
    Visual Review
    Volt Thrower
    War Metal
    Weird
    Zombie

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • REVIEWS
  • PREMIERES
  • INTERVIEWS
  • WRITING SERVICES
  • FEATURES
  • LABEL
  • WRITERS
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!