Well it's been a while since I published something for the last time, but not much new records coming didn't really help. Now this one was out a few years ago, but it was only recently that I finaly got it (kind of hard to find, but fuck, it definitely worth the time spent looking for it), and as you know I try to review only records that I own.
So here we have USA's Battle Ruins, a project involving members of various HxC/Oi! bands (Rival Mob, Mind Eraser, Lovely Lads, to quote a few), playing what they call skinhead rock'n'roll, which to me sounds like a mix of Oi!/metal/hard rock. Now I must say that I'm usualy not a fan of metal stuffs in Oi!, far from that, but damn, that whole record sounds just perfect ! The whole thing is dark, glaucous, violent, that's pretty much Middle Ages made music ! And the title of the songs just reinforce that feeling, like "Blood Eagle" (a form of viking torture, if I'm correct), "Heart of Fire and Stone" (a song that has a pretty Black Sabbath feeling going on, in my opinion). Awesome bass in every songs, powerful drums, choruses going up (that's probably the best thing in these songs, i just love it), it just goes straight to your face, striking you like an axe in the chest. As a matter of fact (and as the guy behind US of Oi! of Sweden rightly pointed in his own review of the 7") there's a pretty 90's UK RAC feeling all along the record, obviously by the way it sounds and absolutely not due to the lyrics. In the end, even if these guys are from the US, they might just have done an anglo-saxon version of Sweden's Viking Rock (which would definitely be another influence to that band, reguarding the "epic" side of it all, I think, for example, about the song "Ensamt Öga" or "Ragnarök" by Ultima Thule), which would be, once again, Medieval Rock. I want more of that.
"Blood Eagle", the best song on that EP, in my opinion
The best songs, in my opinion, are "Blood Eagle" (great solo in the end, and awesome break between the verse and chorus, that's just brutal) and "Warpaths Ahead". It just make you want to pillage and plunder the place you're actually in.
So that was released in 2010, 500 copies made but long sold out, hard to find. If you have the occasion to get it, don't hesitate, that's a pure masterpiece.
From what I've read, those guys are about to release a full LP soon, that can only be good news. Here's a preview of that upcoming album, to me it sounds just as awesome as the rest of their work. Really looking forward to it, and you should too !
"Regain and Conquer" from their upcoming LP
Absolutely no problem as long as you have quoted the original source, the whole thing is meant to be shared ! Thanks for that and good luck
ReplyDeleteThank you, If I decide to translate additional posts I will let you know. I always quote the original source at the beginning of the article and I can already see that you got a couple of visitors from Spain during the last hours. cheers!
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