Rest Among Ruins
Fugue


4.0
excellent

Review

by peartnoy USER (29 Reviews)
July 19th, 2015 | 20 replies


Release Date: 2015 | Tracklist

Review Summary: What a pleasant surprise

Rest Among Ruins isn’t your typical technical metal band. Metalcore? Not really. Too much singing and pretty much no breakdowns. Djent? Not remotely. Progressive Metal? Maybe, but there isn’t that much emphasis on the technicality itself. Instead, this is a melodic and quite emotional piece of work that really caught me by surprise. Not everything is perfect, yet the joy of finding a new fresh sound never really goes away.

To start, every musician in the band really is a master of its craft. The guitars are flashy but not as often as you’d expect them to be, the drums are in your face in a way that adds punch and the vocals are powerful, catchy and emotional. Mike Semesky (ex-Intervals) steals the show with a more varied performance than on Intervals’ A Voice Within and showcases everything he has in his toolbox. There is an emotional punch to songs like In Focus, Fugue, Nothing Else and Cleanse The Sky that’s really unexpected and that has as much with Semesky’s performance than with the overall songwriting, which is stellar. There is also a pop sensibility to it all that the band pulls off extremely well on tracks like Before You Speak and Reach The Edge.

However, like mentioned previously, not everything is perfect in Rest Among Ruins land. It doesn’t open or end particularly strong, with quite a number of songs just ending up being unremarkable. A little more self-indulgence could have made those moments a little more fun, but nothing here is unlistenable. The production kinda sucks too, with the more technical guitar leads and the vocals being quite buried in the mix. It doesn’t detract too much overall, but audiophiles be ready to cringe a little.

Overall tough, this is a refreshing take on technical metal and has more depth and emotion than you’d expect. Despite its shortcomings, it’s a quite impressive piece of work.



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user ratings (58)
3.8
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
peartnoy
July 19th 2015


2320 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I didn't have as much to say about this as I thought. Oh well this needed a review.

LotusFlower
July 19th 2015


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Found these guys through Jarrod's Beating A Dead Horse. Pretty great stuff indeed. My only real complaint with this album outside of some muddy production is that their vocalist has some really awkward transitions between his clean, growling, and screaming vocals.

peartnoy
July 19th 2015


2320 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I kind of agree but thankfully he's great at everything

Psynuts
July 19th 2015


373 Comments


They sound a lot like 'the human abstract', both the guitars and the harsh vocals, this is a lot more melodic though. I dig it, makes me want to jam 'digital veil' again, which is always a good thing.

heck
July 20th 2015


7213 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

back in 2009, long before he started getting recognition for working with bands like Intervals and Raunchy, Mike Semesky followed me on Twitter and I ended up paying him via PayPal for a CD of this band's debut EP



so seeing the kind of attention he and Rest Among Ruins are getting now is pretty surreal and cool



I still need to check this out though

LotusFlower
July 20th 2015


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

It's a pretty darn good record scythe, so I doubt you'll be disappointed.

heck
July 20th 2015


7213 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

it's on my list, but so are like a billion other things. I'll get to it sooner than later, though.

Masthews
July 20th 2015


139 Comments


We just got this in at the college radio station I DJ at and it rules pretty hard. Glad to see it finally get a review. I do agree with the comments about the vocals being awkward at times, I wish this band would use clean vocals sparingly and not have weird transitions but w/e still good stuff.

LotusFlower
July 20th 2015


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I like the clean vocals a lot. In fact, all of the vocals on this album are pretty damn good. It just needs to be balanced a little better.

Piripichotes
July 20th 2015


855 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

If only this album had solos... I pumped this from a 4.0 to a 4.5 in 2 months, and I do agree, this sounds a LOT like THA's digital veil.

TheStoebZ
July 22nd 2015


195 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Great album. Finally a review!

peartnoy
July 22nd 2015


2320 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yes I didn't get why there were no reviews yet.

Michichachi
August 12th 2015


50 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Great album.

heck
January 6th 2016


7213 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

finally checked this out, killer album. I was surprised to hear that several of these songs are actually re-worked/retitled versions of some of the demos they released for free back in 2010 or so, that was pretty cool.



Mike's vocals have improved so much over the years. if you guys like this album, I recommend hunting down their 2008 EP The Depths. it's not as technical and a lot more rough around the edges but just as wonderfully catchy and melodic.

LotusFlower
January 6th 2016


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

You wouldn't happen to know more bands with this kind of poppy/prog sound? I rather like it.

ExhaleTheLight
January 31st 2016


1224 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Semesky is such a beast.

AsleepInTheBack
Staff Reviewer
September 14th 2016


10465 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

i dont really know what i think about this. wish the production was better as some of the guitars sound a little flat and could use some more oomph, but its damn catchy and the vocal and instrumental variety is impressive.

LotusFlower
September 14th 2016


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Production is the weakest thing about this sadly. If it was was better it would be an easy 4.5

AsleepInTheBack
Staff Reviewer
September 14th 2016


10465 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

wish i liked this more but it aint clicking for me. just seems like a more skilful and musical version of what bands like 'The Word Alive' were doing back in 2009. The blend of metal with strong pop influences just doesn't sit with me well since the shit fest that was 'Woe, Is Me'

ExhaleTheLight
October 2nd 2016


1224 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Album still rules a year later, can't get enough of this.



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