Ruins Japan

"Ruins cannot be compared to anyone else, only Ruins themselves. Incredibly complex and chaotic, they bring a new meaning to avant-garde, but unlike their earlier albums there is some genuine refinement to their abrupt shifting and isn’t just noise for the sake of noise. A challenging listen to sit through for an hour, easy listening it is not, but do so and you’ll be rewarded not just with avant-prog, but some jazz and psychedelic passages too, as well as a fun set of medleys taken from classical, hard rock and prog, showing that the duo are indeed accomplished musicians. The atmospheric section in Czerudmuntzail wouldn’t be out of place on a King Crimson album. All in all for me its better than all their prior albums bar Symphonica."

"Admittedly as I’m now on my 11th short review of a Ruins album, I’m running out of different ways to describe their bonkers take on music. But while their early albums were akin to recording the sound of throwing a drum kit and guitars down a long flight of stairs, there is an evolution. Make no mistake, Vrresto is complex to the extreme and is far from accessible to the masses, however there is a high level of technical skill, and dare I say it, refinement, despite the jarring wall of noise. It’s Avant-Garde, RIO, Zeuhl, and a little jazzy. For a semi-accessible example of the latter, as well as that tight technical refinement and a bit of craziness, have a listen to the second half of Kpaligoth. A track by track review would be a serious feat, instead I’ll just suggest listening to the section of Quopern, Laipthcig and Jarragoh as a good sampler."

"Primarily a duo of drums and bass guitar, for this album Ruins is expanded to include two female vocalists and a keyboardist, reworking some earlier tracks with the new faces. The result is something more layered, less chaotic, and certainly more accessible. Thebes becomes almost a classic Magma Zeuhl track, slow, dark and brooding with some shrieky vocals and it is the mellotron which gives it some extra gravitas. The more punky origins are present elsewhere, including on a great version of Graviyaunosch and the added keys takes nothing away from the high standard drumming and bassline. The album title and the addition of a keyboardist makes it fairy obvious what they're aiming for, and Praha in Spring is perhaps the most symphonic in sound, vocals aside it wouldn't sound out of place on a Genesis album. Infect is very different from its original, slowed down to double length and highly Zeuhl with some jazzy jamming in parts. A reinvention/re-evolution of Ruins style (or some might say the first time they've had some!). Having listened to their output in chronological order so far, this is by far their most accessible, and the first I would happily sit all the way through again."