Unfathomable Ruination - Decennium Ruinae
Stepping on the right foot here I have to say that everything you expect to hear when playing back a Unfathomable Ruination album are there. The technical and rabid riffs, the relentless, complex drumming, the fat bass, the super deep gutturals, the heavy chops… all of them can be found plenty.
First spin is underway and the silence breaks with 'Suspended In Entropic Dissipat'. The groovy intro gives its place to a ferocious swirling death metal riff backed up by tons of blastbeats. Unfathomable Ruination belong to the technical brutal death metal genre which of course with time they have infused a lot with death-core injections, creating their own unique blend! The deathcore element although not dominant, can be found plenty in Unfathomable Ruination nowadays. The blastbeats give their place to deep, heavy chops. Beatdowns that I believe will prove their value more on stage, having people moshing to them. Many breaks and many riffs to this first track. Technical as it gets but on the same time trying to preserve a straight through, intact value.
'A Withered Embrace' succeeds the previous one and follows the same path. Sets off nicely with a Morbid Angel-ish riff, cut and sewn of course the way they like to wear it. Groove succeeds ferocity and back to groove in a tremendous pace. The drums are hyper technical giving every riff, which of course don’t lack technicality (on the contrary), no matter how simple it is, an aura of complexity without of course forgetting the basics. In Unfathomable Ruination groove has to be groοοovy and believe me there are chops and beat-downs here to make you lift your foot higher than ever before stomping it to the ground.
Two more tracks complete this EP following the same protocol, with the last one ('Disciples Of Pestilence') leaning more to their experimental side. Lots of leads and chops here. Probably the most diverse song they’ve recorded I could say. Atmospheric intro and lots of melodies spread in a 5 minute song. Still you got their moments of ferocity and Ben’s heavy growls giving the proper brutality tone to the track but overall I think it is the one that leans more to their deathcore side having mostly elements of that genre in it.
So let’s get our thoughts in a line here. “Decennium Ruinae” is definitely an EP fans of the band SHOULD have in their possession. Nice, bright production to it, allowing everything to be heard loud and clear and on the same time all works as one. Great finishing touches on the mastering making it loud and heavy! I dunno about the purists but fans of the genre will find many interesting elements in here. Elements to get you stuck with them and make you wanna explore more about em! For many, their best moment was their latest album. To me it was the one before that but still… “Decennium Ruinae” is a top notch release from a band known to be releasing nothing other than those! Check it out!
4 / 5 STARS
2. A Withered Embrace
3. The Great Contaminator
4. Disciples Of Pestilence
