Ruin: Human Annihilation (2018)

Ruin, or as they are also known, Ruin Death Metal Cult, is a group of musicians determined to bring back the old sound of death metal.  Back when it was intense and scary, and much more of an underground phenomenon.  It is the death metal that was spreading its ghastly wings in the early 1990's.  Filth-ridden and disgusting death metal, long before the mainstream media ever picked up on it.

The members that form Ruin know the sound, because Ruin existed during the time period.  In one incarnation, Ruin released a disgustingly depraved demo back in 1991.  The band went on a lengthy dry spell before re-emerging from the grave in 2015.  Since then, the cult has released a number of demos, EPs and more upon an unsuspecting public.  This is just the band's second full-length.

This is gritty and grimy death metal at its most decayed, most desiccated, and most foul.  There is absolutely nothing pretty here.  It is lo-fi, with a production that calls to mind the sound of early death metal when there were no slick production values.  Everything sounds coated with a layer of grime.  The riffs are ugly and mostly fairly simple, but add to the grimy feel.  The vocals sound like the singer gargled a bottle of acid prior to stepping to the mic. 

This is a particularly nasty release from death metal veterans that still remember how scary death metal was in its formative years.  They take that sound and continue to perfect it.  This thing is disgusting and rotten.  I love it.