Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Review: Ruined Families - Self-Titled 7"


Ruined Families

Self-titled 7”
Track Listing:
1.  Voidealism
2. You Will Become Like Your Father
3. Bedroom Nihilist
4. Quiet


As anyone who has read a newspaper in the last year knows, Greece has largely degenerated into a chaotic mess, with social problems and financial hardships that have no end in sight.  In short, it is the perfect breeding ground for pissed-off, dissonant, aggressive music.  Enter Ruined Families.  While this band hasn’t been on my radar before, they’ve already gotten some well-deserved good press from other websites and publications for their particular brand of punishing hardcore.

While I’ve read numerous ‘they sound like Cursed’ posts about Ruined Families, I don’t agree (although this isn’t a slight against the band.....it’s more of a reference to the untouchable nature of Cursed).  For one thing, this is a blackened hardcore band that is far more comfortable with metal/grind elements than Cursed ever was, and it’s an aspect of Ruined Families that makes them stand out from many of their contemporaries. 

This four song self-titled 7” blends various elements of hardcore, metal, noise, and blackened-whatever to produce 10 of the most desperate and dirty minutes in music that I’ve heard in ages (I mean this as a huge compliment).  While much of North America dismisses European hardcore, Ruined Families (along with other European acts like Birds in Row and Rise and Fall) helps us in the Western Hemisphere that good music doesn’t stop at the shores of the Atlantic.  Sceptics should check out the song “You Will Become Like Your Father” if they doubt that this band can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other Euro bands mentioned. 

Break-neck death metal riffs mixed with anguished screams and sludgy interludes brought to you from Europe’s economic bastard child.  What’s not to love?


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