Face Of Ruin - Within The Infinite

Face Of Ruin

Within The Infinite
Independent Release

Milwaukee (Wisconsin, U.S.) outfit Face Of Ruin have been lurking around the underground scene for quite a few years now, and have caught the attention of many with their uncompromising and brutal take on progressive death metal.
Face Of Ruin have impressed with their two former releases (Being their 2007 split E.P. release with Divisive Skin and their self-titled E.P. from 2008), and true to form, the band have once again delivered another quality release with their latest effort ‘Within The Infinite’.
Armed with the addition of vocalist Matt Bishop to their ranks (Ex-Lividity/Human Artifacts), Face Of Ruin (Who also comprise of Shroud Of Despondency guitarist Jon Liedtke, guitarist Shane Ebert, bassist/backing vocalist Noah Mezsick and Orwell drummer Cris Bissell) have taken their music to an entirely new level of perfection on their latest release, with the opening track ‘Torture Of Silence’ the first cut to showcase the tight and efficient unit the band have become in their three years away from the studio. Starting out with a slew of twisted riffs and a casual groove, ‘Torture Of Silence’ slowly builds to a truly punishing assault on the senses as it progresses, with Bishop’s guttural deep growls, Bissell’s hammering drums and the technical groove provided by the remainder of the band combined to create death metal perfection. Some experimental distorted spoken word vocals and small pockets of melody certainly don’t take away from the song as a whole, and show that while brutality is a dominating force in the band’s overall delivery, quality song writing and structure is also of great importance to the band.
The title track ‘Within The Infinite’ pushes the extremities even further than the opener, with the heavier elements of the band’s sound given a push into overdrive (Especially on the vocal front, where Mezsick’s backing vocals provide plenty of support to Bishop), while the melodic flourishes on the guitar front are given a little more prominence with some inspired and extended lead work.
Finishing up the E.P. is ‘In The Depths Of Blackness’, which is by far the E.P.’s most progressive and technical effort, and a stand out cut on the disc with some additional guitars provided by The Absence’s Patrick Pintavalle and samples lifted from the cult 1990 film ‘Jacob’s Ladder’.
Face Of Ruin has really put together a solid release in ‘Within The Infinite’, both in terms of song writing and its overall production (The album was recorded with The Absence/Infernaeon drummer Jeramie Kling, and mastered by Scar Symmetry guitarist/keyboardist Jonas Kjellgren). The only real flaw with ‘Within The Infinite’ is that it’s an E.P. rather than a full-length album. But given that the band has already started work on some new songs, enough material beyond an E.P. shouldn’t really be a problem with their next release.

For more information on Face Of Ruin, check out - http://www.faceofruin.bandcamp.com/

© Justin Donnelly