28th September 2022

Review: “As The Sky Begins To Break” by Ruina

Having originally started out as a solo project for multi instrumentalist Harvey Lake, the desire to play live soon took hold and with that the need to assemble a fully fledged band. Ruina was born a Hardcore outfit with their debut EP “Nemesis” but soon evolved with line up changes and a love of bands like Bullet For My Valentine leading to sophomore record “A Hundred Voices” with Metalcore riffs and clean vocals earning yet more attention for a band already known for their high octane live show. Three times a charm or so they say and this time around “As The Sky Begins To Break” once again brings line up changes with Harvey Lake now handling guitars and clean vocals with the introduction of a second vocalist in Chris Owens to handle the uncleans. So how does it stack up?

Oddly enough, the introduction piece that begins “As The Sky Begins To Break” is an atmosphere building moment that has needlessly been separated from the lyrical title “Ash & Fire“, creating an unnecessary jolt when the pair could have been conjoined. That being said, it is a vital component in the opening track proper, a tune steeped in “The End Of Heartache” era Killswitch Engage stylings of bombastic Metalcore riffs and bold clean vocals from Lake intertwined with those of Owens to great effect. The lead moments raise the tension levels while the riffs fly, the smaller breakdown parts working incredibly well. Lake’s clean vocals have come on leaps and bounds between the EP releases, once again impressing in their bravery. “The Truth” continues the flow in similar fashion with a huge breakdown section as much a call to the pit as the sing-a-long lyrics are a call the raise a poison challace. A rampage that actually has its roots in the bands earlier Hardcore sound, this one is the distilled essence of what Ruina are as a band while at the same time demonstrating just how far they have come. A thunderous drum sound and powerhouse grooves in “Wavebreaker” finish the EP in style, the power and passion in these songs meaning they’re hard hitting, emotive and engaging at the same time. Make no mistake, this is a collection of high grade incendiary cuts that are going to go down a storm live with the band having all the necessary ingredients to break out from the Underground. Surely it can only be a matter of time before Ruina are creating a major label debut and touring far flung lands? [8.5/10]

Track Listing