Massachusetts progressive metalcore institution Within the Ruins are a band that very quickly found their sound, honed it to a near-perfect level and pretty much stuck with its core aspects, while still managing to evolve. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. To their exciting early albums Creature and Invade in 2009 and 2010 to the back to back release of possibly two of the best albums mathcore has ever seen – Elite in 2013 and Phenomena one year later. Phenomena, specifically, deserves to be highlighted as it raised up WtR to a new level, taking inspiration from a diverse range of topics and incorporating an even wider range of sonic influences, resulting in tracks that are fan-favorites up to this day, notably “Gods Amongst Men” and “Enigma”. Now, 10 years later and with a new vocalist (Steve Tinnon, replacing longtime lead singer Tim Goergen), they offer up a sequel to their brilliant 2014 outing, reaching the same heights they managed to do so all those years ago, while also treading the fine line of palpable and sensible progression and presenting an acute sense of familiarity and nostalgia. It would be no understatement to say that Phenomena II is quite possibly the best project Within the Ruins has put out so far.
Compared to 2020’s deeply personal and quite dark Black Heart, which initially introduced us fans to this new, Steve-led era of Ruins, Phenomena II feels way more familiar, both in concept and in sound. Opener and lead single “Castle in the Sky” pretty much defines the sound we will be hearing for the rest of the album, with punching riffs, fast drums, Joe Cocchi’s signature video game-ish leads and Steve’s truly particular vocal style, which injects a great deal of personality into the already established traditional deathcore formula.
Lyrically, we witness a return to their comic book and pop-culture inspired lyrics, with the aforementioned “Castle in the Sky” connecting to the story of The Punisher, a man who has lost everything, and is willing to go through anything for the family he desperately wishes he still had. To paraphrase what Steve said in my interview with him, with Black Heart, he laid all his cards on the table, now, with Phenomena II, the band in general treads the fine line between bringing a nostalgic final product and keeping things fresh, as he wasn’t in a “Black Heart headspace” anymore. “Daywalker” and “Demon Killer” follow in a similar vein, with the latter specifically having some incredibly well-crafted and groovy choppy riffs, a staple of “progcore”. The solo on “Demon Killer” is also, debatably, one of the best in the whole project. A Within the Ruins album is not a Within the Ruins album without their characteristically amazing instrumental tracks, with “Level 12” being the first of 3.
“Level 12” is followed by the unapologetically heavy “Eater of Worlds”, which aptly feels like “survival at any cost”, the first lyric of the song. Single “The Last Son”, based on an alien who comes to earth after his planet is destroyed (Superman) stands out as quite different to what has composed the album so far, slowing things down a tad and taking a slightly lower profile approach in relation to the progressive aspects, giving it quite a more serious tone. Back half does come back at us with some more solos and generally prog-esque aspects, but not in the “controlled chaos” style of the other tracks. Flipping that last concept on its head, chaos reigns supreme on the 8th track, aptly titled “Chaos Reigns”, which drives all of the unique aspects of Ruins back up to 11, layers upon layers of guitars, insane licks, swift drums and an oddly motivating solo about 2 minutes in, which sounds like it could easily be the soundtrack either to an incredibly good episode of Power Rangers or the final boss battle of a retro-inspired, incredibly hard indie videogame (akin to Celeste, but a bit more cyberpunk); either or, really. The choppy riff around 2 minutes later is also one of the most memorable riff/solo combos of the album, managing to be both technically impressive and having quite a catchy melody. This “second act” is once again closed off by an instrumental, this time “Death Mask”, which lays into some djentier aspects at times.
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Slamming heaviness returns with the beautifully harsh “Corruption”, which manages to encapsulate both a raw, visceral energy in the vocals and riffs and a staggering beauty in the solos, tones and overall production, something which is also applicable to the other 10 tracks as a whole. “A World on Fire”, last non-instrumental track continues the heaviness and brings lyrics about one of the most interesting comic characters and one with one of the most poignant stories as a whole, Daredevil (Matt Murdock). Depicting not only the natural struggles that come from being a blind man, but also herculean effort of protecting his city, which is quickly slipping into quite a precarious situation. Its lyrics and instrumental complement each other perfectly, basically closing off Phenomena II with the same energy “Castle in the Sky” brought over at the start – with both songs also coincidentally being about characters who have a deep moral complexity and generally darker tendencies. “Enigma II” is everything a Ruins fan could wish for, condensed into one instrumental.
As I’ve said multiple times throughout these almost 900 words, this new album of theirs blends the sound of their earlier works – notably Phenomena, believe it or not – with the new energy they have established with Steve at the helm, and Enigma II exemplifies that, also starting a new series. In the absence of an “Ataxia”, we have another “Enigma”, which opens many doors for further explorations in their next albums.
All in all, Phenomena II is able to grab all that WtR has spent years polishing and compile it into one, beautifully complex and intriguing final product that surely carves out its place not only as an essential of the band’s discography, but also into the annals of progressive metalcore history. Not only does it show incredible maturity and evolution – both in a musical and lyrical sense – with the four-piece once again not not being afraid to experiment with deep storylines in their lyrics, but it also maintains the fun riffs and leads that have been a constant in Within the Ruins’ sound. The choppy riffs, banging breakdowns and arcadey leads are all still there, but this time, more intertwined than ever with layers and layers of depth and complexity.
To sum it up, Phenomena II is by no means sonically “far from home”, especially by bringing back some of the concepts explored in the original Phenomena, while also expanding what we already knew could be done in the confines of WtR. A must-listen for any fan of ‘core of progressive music in general.
Update: we just published Daniel’s interview with frontman Steve Tinnon!
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Phenomena II is released 23rd August.
Header image by Riamond Lomeli
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