For Ruin (IRL) | ‘Enlightened’

Possibly the most eagerly anticipated Irish release of the year, the long wait for For Ruin’s sophomore full length release is almost at an end. Recorded all the way back in January, during the summer the band finally decided to take the release of ‘Last Light’ into their own hands, rather than wait for a label to give it the priority they feel it deserves.

To bridge the gap while the CDs are manufactured, and presumably to give the band a dry run at organising a digital release, as they’ve also planned for ‘Last Light’, ‘Enlightened’ provides a taster of what to expect come the end of October; in terms of the music, the Paul McCarroll artwork, and significantly also the production.

Normally the production probably wouldn’t even factor into the equation but, whereas after three demos and a full length For Ruin fans have enough faith in John Murphy’s ability to deliver the goods in terms of memorable riffs, great leads and fantastic harmonies, the disappointment engendered by the production on the debut album ‘December’ has left the Cork boys with some ground to make up. And certainly the five tracks making up ‘Enlightened’ are a vast improvement on ‘December’ soundwise.

Recorded in Cork with Alwyn Walker of Komodo Studios many of the flaws that blighted the debut have been ironed out, with a much crisper, clearer and more powerful allround sound. Despite the huge step forward, it’s still just a little way from being all that it could be though. The slightly raw, in places too trebly sound just doesn’t entirely do the Cork four piece justice one feels.

Another shortcoming to these ears is that at times the vocals are a little muddy and low in the mix. These are just minor quibbles, though, that have more to do with wanting to see For Ruin deliver to the full on the great potential that is unquestionably there.

So, although there have been questions over the production in the past, that’s never been the case with regard to the music, and ‘Enlightened’ is no different. The focal points of this five track release are the three new songs; the instrumental opener ‘Crawl’ and the two tracks featured on the band’s MySpace site over the last couple of months, ‘Care Of The Dead’ and ‘In Suffering’.

Although instrumental tracks have long been a feature of the For Ruin approach, ‘Crawl’ is untypical in that it’s more brutal than anything the band has done before, opening up proceedings with frantic, buzzsaw guitars, and generally more Death Metal than one associates with For Ruin.

It’s also not your typical instrumental intro piece. ‘Care Of The Dead’ and ‘In Suffering’ are a little more of what we’ve come to expect from For Ruin, with the trademark, uplifting melodies, the twin guitar work, walking the tightrope between melodic Death and Black Metal; ‘Care…’ rooted more in the former, ‘In Suffering’ the latter.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of this EP is that the two aforementioned tracks showcase Murphy’s greater songwriting maturity, but also the emergence of For Ruin as a band, rather than a one man act. In short, they represent the best of what For Ruin has produced to date.

If they are in any way indicative of what’s to come on ‘Last Light’, the album will be a real milestone in Irish Death Metal, and certainly won’t have to hide behind any of the more established international acts either. It’s also worth mentioning that the frequent comparisons to Rotting Christ made in the past no longer apply, as from release to release For Ruin have developed a sound all of their own.

Completing the EP are a remixed version of the live favourite ‘Towards An End’ and a demo version of opener ‘Crawl’, which in a sense slightly superfluous, serves well as a reprise and rounds the EP off nicely. All in all, ‘Enlightened’ very much whets the appetite for more.

DBM ::: 20/09/09