Ruins of Beverast, The – Unlock the Shrine
For those of you who know and worship the greatness that was Germany’s Nagelfar, all I should have to say to you regarding The Ruins of Beverast, is that it’s made up of members from that aforementioned, stunning band. There you go… sold! Nagelfar was an interloper between the black and death metal worlds (but was far more rooted in the black metal side of things) that played with this crosspollination of sounds to arrive at a truly unique and exciting combination that was mesmerizing, grim, explosive and avant-garde all at the same time. The Ruins of Beverast is in many ways, the logical continuation of Nagelfar, but maybe a bit more in tune with true underground black metal of today. The atmosphere on “Unlock the Shrine” is vibrant and haunting as a buzzing guitar tone lopes through mid paced and depressive tempos, but never settling on the same delivery, yet fully draped in the depressive coldness of the grave by way of bleak synth textures and other such demented sounds. This album is set up like 1 long track, as the metal moments are connected by experimental, militaristic and ambient mini tracks that are quite effective at increasing the unique atmosphere of this album by reaching into the listeners brain and painting a very bleak picture of the future through sonic manipulation. Where “Between Bronze Walls” enchants with it’s misanthropic, mid-paced tempo and simplistically stunning harmonies, The Ruins” breaks away from this delivery to embrace an abrasive attack on the straight forward “Skeleton Coast” with it’s fierce speed and sharp riffing, before it erodes away into nightmarish choral background singing and an apocalyptic vibe that gives you a glimpse into hell. Just when you think you have this band figured out, their music contorts into something sinisterly beautiful to catch the listener off guard and keep them closely in tune with every twist in the music. I really like that sense of unknowingness… That feeling of treading water in an ever changing sea of musical bliss, because predictable music seems to be settled for far too often in this day and age. The Ruins of Beverast destroy the stereotypes found in the black metal genre with a pure black metal album that is grating with intensity and equally stunning for their knack of introducing these vibrant mental images with their open minded, endlessly artistic and challenging compositions. “Unlock the Shrines” is pure excellence from start to finish. -Marty
BATTLE KOMMAND RECORDS
Worm Gear 