Posted on: November 6, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The full sound of this new band from Tairrie B (Tura Satana/Manhole) really is what invites listeners in during tracks like “Touch Me I’m Sick”. Everything is given a bass-heavy luster that allows the swampy-rock of the band to shine through. Couple that with sizzling guitar lines and arrangements that are similar in style to “Deliverance”-era Corrosion of Conformity, and the band has some serious positives to win people over with their “The Brutal Language”.

The ability of the band to bludgeon listeners with their brutal guitar/bass attack (as such is present during “Summer of Hell”) is just one of their attack; equally present are the ever-more-chaotic and driven guitar solos as were present in “Touch Me I’m Sick”. The band gets an infusion of punk structuring during “Summer of Hell”, where a simplifying of their sound really allows listeners to tune in easier. “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” is really innovative in the sense that the guitars take precedence over the vocals; in fact, the roles of the two seem to be switched. That is to say that the guitar is the more narrative track during the track, while the screaming present is in much more of an instrumental role. The ability of My Ruin to move into different genres is really what makes the disc such a success; for example, “The Devil Walks” vacillates between the dirty-metal of bands like Superjoint Ritual while still maintaining a fire for the seventies rock of Led Zeppelin and Kansas.

The result is not some weakly-functioning Frankenstein’s monster, but really something that shows individuals that My Ruin is really able to pull off whatever they’d like. By far, the work that My Ruin does when they are confronted with repetition is the strongest fare on the disc. By not showing any weakness – by being confident, the band can succeed where countless bands have failed. “The Brutal Language” is the strongest disc I’ve heard, in an all-around sense. The production allows the band’s already-formidable instrumentation to shine, while the arrangement of “The Brutal Language” is continually shi fting but never dubious. The tracks may not be proper for average rock-radio, but place them in a forum where metal-minded viewers reside (Uranium, Headbanger’s Ball) and watch the sales of this disc increase into the stratosphere. This is metal, pure and simple and its reluctance to fit neatly into a specific genre makes it endearing.

Top Tracks: Cold Hands, Warm Heart , Touch Me I’m Sick

Rating: 7.2/10
My Ruin – The Brutal Language / 2005 33rd Street / 10 Tracks / http://www.myruin.com / http://www.33rdstreet.com / Reviewed 01 October 2005

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