Metalcore, hardcore, post-core, core-foam, soft-core... Whatever-core. It’s usually boring, badly produced, lyrically stupid and vocally upsetting. Most of the times it doesn’t wake me up, let alone excite, but I have to say that All Hail the Ruin managed to change this situation a bit.
This underground band from Birmingham have produced two EP's so far, with "Vulture" being the second. While I haven't heard their previous work, I can hear this is definitely above average for this "jazzy" genre. This -core stuff seems to the big thing with kids nowadays, so I can imagine it's hard to create something fresh and interesting; not just to go with the flow. And to my surprise, here we have really good drumming, decent vocals, catchy melodies and excellent production!
There is nothing worse in metal than listening to the under-produced, shitty-sounding waves of paranoia produced by wannabes. The underground is full of it. "Vulture" is, at least, solidly made and it really kicks the shit out of your speakers in a good way.
It’s hard to properly judge All Hail The Ruin from this short E.P, though I'd love to hear more from them. The packaging looks a bit amateurish, but it would be nice if someone produced them a good cover and they put out some properly laid out conceptual stuff. Still, these kids do have a potential, unlike some of their colleagues. I will be checking them out if they play live in my area. And so should you.
http://www.myspace.com/allhailtheruin
