ALBUM REVIEW: Lie In Ruins – Floating In Timeless Streams

Finnish Death Metal veterans LIE IN RUINS return with their 3rd full length record of expansive despairing morbidity. Out via Dark Descent Records on November 20th.

Driving right in with a pulverising blend of furious blastbeats, cavernous riffs and rich atmosphere, there is a groove and murky grotesqueness to this music that will instantly appeal to fans of Krypts, Corpsessed and Disma. Some punky drums blend in with the blasts to give a tight hook that accentuates the bestial riffing and gruesome vocals gorgeously, dripping in ichor, this is a daunting display of true Death Metal brilliance. Haunting leads give a spectral quality to the contorted soundscapes of morbidity and deliver us into a realm of abyssal horrors most mystical and disdainful. Soaring forth, the gloriously concocted energies spew with a visceral and remorseless barbarity with so much texture and nuance that it is truly immersive in every sense. Clearly this is going to be another impeccable record in the Finnish Death Metal underground.

There is dissonance, primarily in the lead work, that elevates the expansive rhythmic monoliths into a titan of pure malice. Blistering, scolding guitar work entwines with thunderous drums and bass, cascading with darkness alongside a rancid spew of vocal incantations. All of this seems to pass in a flurry of desolate and unforgiving ecstasy as we see a masterfully conjured album form before out very eyes alongside unmentionably eerie entities from another time and place. Carving their sonic imprint onto the mind, each piece is rather unique and ties into the greater picture of the record with short interludes, playing out as part of a grand design in malicious sound emanations rather than just a few tracks of brutality. Miasmic vapours seem to drift from the speakers as these daunting, unhinged songs progress and delve further into the rotten crypts of whatever world Lie In Ruins lurk in. Utterly mesmerising to witness.

Bellowed vocals seem to call to another world as riffs and drums might be used to open portals into a Lovecraftian nightmare. Rather than using down-tuned chugs or low grunts to achieve brutality, Lie In Ruins go the superior route of creating feverish and destabilised soundscapes of pure deathly magnificence. Somewhat akin to bands like Lantern and Deiquisitor but with a bit of Spectral Voice in the mix, one can get a rough idea of some of the sonic artillery utilised but this is unique enough to demand your attention. Naturally there is also similarities to be found with Cruciamentum, Grave Miasma and Dead Congregation as fore-runners of this style, but again, Lie In Ruins do things differently enough to be totally worthwhile. The nefarious musicianship we see here is otherworldly, with grandiose execution and deliverance of baron, inhospitable sounds that will not be easily forgotten or shaken.

If you are tired of tepid brutality, meaningless atmospherics and obnoxious dissonance, this is the album that takes on a gargantuan form of its own blending meaty riffing, crushing drums and ghastly vocals into an atmospheric, discordant and uprooting slab of ferocity with no unnecessary or posturing weakness. Certainly the best record by far from this band who have hugely stepped up their songwriting and musical abilities to conjure forth something most disturbing. -8.5/10