Omen (Victory Records)
Another short player has landed on my desk (or in my iTunes as it would be). The new EP from Massachusetts metallers WITHIN THE RUINS is out and it seems like these guys have put out about a release a year since arriving on the scene. The EP has been released in celebration of the band being the final act added on this years installment of The Summer Slaughter Tour. It is vital for bands to always hone their craft and in terms of keeping a fan base energized, this is a great strategy too. Just a year after Invade came out the band has released two new songs along with two covers. “Controller” is just an over the top assault of technical death metal. The band tends to have two speeds: overdrive for their blastbeats and riffer madness type material and then the half-time breakdowns for the deathcore part of their influence. The song is like a greatests bits type track, accentuating all of the things they do well as band. With their creative twin guitar work Joe Cocchi and Jay Vanscheldt put themselves creatively in the wheelhouse with CARNIFEX, BORN OF OSIRIS and at times even DECREPIT BIRTH. Second track “Infamy” has an even more prog/death metal direction and the song flat out-crushes. Vocalist Tim Goergen has the requisite gravel in his throat to make this music work. He continues to improve and stake his claim as one of the rising talents in the game.
Then it’s on to the covers and two very curious choices indeed. The first being the KANSAS classic rock staple “Carry On Our Wayward Son” which is solid. The song is cool, declares the bands’ respect for prog and their marriage of their unique style with the song works well. Once again the guitar work stands out above everything else since it covers a lot of the melodies that would normally be done by multi-tracked, harmonized vocals. The second cover is a more straight ahead version of METALLICA’s “Fight fire With Fire”. Both songs are well done and even though both have been covered recently by other bands, WTR puts their own stamp on them. This EP is a nice treat for the fans and something to tide people over until there is a new full length album sometime next year.
GRADE: B
by Keith (Keefy) Chachkes
