Review Summary: A hastily put together EP that, with just about of extra effort and diversity, would have helped Arise And Ruin make a name for themselves.
1 of 1 thought this review was well writtenArise And Ruin hail from Guelph Ontario, a region more or less known for bands getting together , recording and releasing a CD, then breaking up without a trace. Well Arise And Ruin breaks the mold here by not only staying together after this EP, but by releasing 2 more full length's afterwards.
Those of you curious of how their sound developed will be sadly surprised, Arise and Ruin did not explode out into the scene wielding an EP made of gold, nor did they reinvent any sort of genre or cross genres. They did however, release an EP with promise, not of becoming the most innovative and inspirational band of all time, but of becoming a band made up of the same elements as every other band, done slightly better.
Add a couple of drop-tuned guitars,
with a a vocalist who knows but one pitch,
an in audible bass,
a double bass pedal that's volume is set way to high,
lyrics about overcoming one's tests and tribulations and such,
a tiny hint of melodic riffs,
and more than enough breakdowns
and what do you get?
You pretty much have Arise And Ruin, and the formula for many other new age metalcore bands.
The production quality isn't terrible, but the drums are tuned way too high above the mix, while the bass is completely silent.
Their are some catchy bits (In Life) and some riffs that will make you actually want to listen tot he song again (Rex Butcher), unfortunately each of these elements is too short lived to make a huge difference on the EP.
Two of the Five songs on this seemingly hastily put-together Demo appear on the band's Debut, The Final Dawn. (Always the Same, In Life)
It seems if the band had taken some time to develop their sound, as oppose to simply copying the expected norm, they may have achieved much better status in the community. Strangely however, they were picked up by Victory Records through this.
