Review
Voice Of Ruin
Self Titled

Heimathome (2011) Sarah

Voice Of Ruin – Self Titled cover artwork
Voice Of Ruin – Self Titled — Heimathome, 2011

Believe me, I love oldschool thrash metal as much as the next person--give me early Metallica or Death any day of the week and I will gladly headbang hard enough to lacerate passers by with my hair. And that's all Voice of Ruin seem interested in on their self-titled release: pure, unadulterated thrash metal with death metal highlights. I commend them for that--their dedication to stylistic purity is definitely there. The problem is that, frankly, they're not particularly good at it.

The music itself isn't particularly standout--it's hard to describe it beyond "it's just thrash metal". I don't mean that to be dismissive of the whole genre, I mean that there's literally nothing else going on in the music. I sounds like drinking juice concentrate without the water tastes like. Sure, you can tell what it is, but there's no embellishment, no flair, and no personality. Also kind of disgusting. I don't want to say that no serious effort was put into this album, because it's clear that there was, but the songwriting just doesn't sound that inspired. All of the songs start to blend together after a while, as there's is very little that's memorable about the writing. I found myself frequently looking at the time stamps, wondering when the album would be over, and it's only 35 minutes long. The music admittedly gets really cool when they start imitating Meshuggah--"BDSM" has some really fun syncopated riffs to it that I freely admit are fucking awesome--but given that those are the only interesting things going on in the album, even those moments get tiresomely repetitive after a while.

Also, I'm not sure how these vocals are being produced, but they sound like they've been filtered and refiltered several times over, producing the most aurally confusing harsh vocals I've ever had to parse. They're not bad, but they're not quite enjoyable, either. They're just a bit too...well, "phlegmy" is kind of a disgusting word for it, but you get the idea. You almost feel like the lead singer is trying to dislodge something in his throat during the middle of the studio recording.

I suppose it comes down to this: do you enjoy thrash/death metal without exception? If so, you probably will enjoy this album. If you only posses a passing interest in the genre or can't listen to anything heavier than "Fade to Black", then you can pass on this one.

3.5 / 10Sarah • January 16, 2012

Voice Of Ruin – Self Titled cover artwork
Voice Of Ruin – Self Titled — Heimathome, 2011

Recently-posted album reviews

Dead Bars

All Dead Bars Go To Heaven
Iodine (2025)

Dead Bars has a unique talent of taking the everyday, the experiences you see and live all the time, and shining a new light on them to make them personal and interesting. I've written about it before, yet it's my job to say this again and to make it interesting. It's what Dead Bars does, so it only seems fitting … Read more

Painkiller

The Great God Pan
Tzadik (2025)

Painkiller, the trio of John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris shows no signs of slowing down. The Great God Pan is their third full-length, since their reunion in 2024, and in many ways it is an unexpected offering. In keeping with their interests in the metaphysical realm, Painkiller find inspiration from the famed Arthur Machen horror novella. Here, the … Read more

Painkiller

The Equinox
Tzadik (2025)

Painkiller sees three absolute masters of extreme music join forces. John Zorn of Naked City and a billion other projects, Mick Harris who transcended from Napalm Death drummer to illbient guru with Scorn, and producer extraordinaire Bill Laswell. Their first two records, Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets are strange meditations traversing between free-jazz, grindcore and dub. Still hungry … Read more