No, it's not happy happy x-mas joy time. For Ruin come from Cork, Ireland, and I bet you know that that means melancholy, dreariness and cruelty in a special way, that can only come from that foggy part of the island. 'December' is the debut full length album from this nowadays a four-piece band.

It is more than surprising, that For Ruin sound nothing like Primordial, Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride. A truly positive surprise in my opinion. For Ruin's influences lie in Northern and Mediterranean parts of Europe, and it sounds like the band have never entered the 21st century. There are bits from Swedish death metal (I think mentioning Unanimated's very animated 'Ancient God of Evil' [1995] wouldn't be unjustified at all) and mysteriousness of, let's say, Greek dark metal. For Ruin sound pretty unique for a band who started in 2004, but when going back a decade or so, the level of uniqueness lowers to quite unobtrusive. The most distinguishing feature of For Ruin is the bountiful lead guitar work, which at times gets a bit awkward; there's just so much of it and it's pretty repetitive, just spin the first two songs so you hear what I mean I think. But the lead guitar work and harmonic riffage are the band's trademarks, so consider them as such. The drumming is very animated and able indeed, but parched throat stertor is in a bit dull side, but is also subdued in the mix. Soundwise this is organic with obscure, outlandish guitar tone. On the other hand, the production is meticulous as the instruments are all well audible, but also kind of carrying veneration to 1990s work ethics in dark metal field. For Ruin's adynamia seem to be that they have demonstrated their tricks by the half way of the album, even though 'Frailty' sounds more like typical Type O Negative tediousness than anything else. Generally, the song structures are varying, but they are short for substance. But, the songs aren't either stretched to long durations, like this kind of music sometimes is.

All told, 'December' is an interesting trip a decade rearward. Minus the last song, this album has all the traits that could thieve the heart of a dark metal or melodic death metal enthusiast for good, even though it has its defects, some of which are minor and some quite big actually.

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
09/07/2007 13:11