Within The Ruins is a metal band based out of Westfield, Massachusetts. They have a new album coming out March 3rd 2017 via eOne Music, titled ‘Halfway Human. When the band was talking about the writing process for this record, they touched upon the fact that they usually rush out music and jump into the studio. Within The Ruins collectively decided they were sick of the same old formula and wanted to try something new and take the time write a great record. Within The Ruins has stated they took the time to review their older material and have tried to make something different sounding. With the time, patience and research they have put into their new album ‘Halfway Human’ I’m sure most will be impressed by what Within The Ruins has done on their 5th studio record.
Before we even discuss the music, look at the album art! I love it. It’s bright and colorful but still metal. How can skulls not be considered metal right? But it still doesn’t hold a light to the music. ‘Halfway Human’ is an 11 song affair with variations of everything this band has to offer throughout. This album was one I had to give a couple listens before I really got it. Once I familiarized myself with this record a bit more, I got what the band was trying to achieve. Instrumentally, it’s a very tight record. Stop and start on a dime through the entire record that leaves me impressed multiple times on this effort. A few standout tracks are “Objective Reality”, “Absolution” and my personal favorite “Incomplete Harmony”. “Object Reality” gives us a slow intro with distant clean vocals that come into fruition when the song actually comes in. It doesn’t take long for the band to bring the heavy back though. This song is the heaviest on the album with some harder breakdowns and more growls then the go to scream style throughout most of the record. It also carries some of the best drum beats on the record with some ferocious double kick sections that just drove me crazy. The solos on this song are also very well done and add the variety that keep this song interesting. “Absolution” is the coolest most interesting song here. It’s got the most bizarre melodies and broken sound to it (I mean that in a good way). It just really fascinates me how this track is put together. A really weird comparison but the riff that comes in around the 1:17 mark reminds me of Super Mario every single time I hear it. I could go on forever with how varied this song is. It’s all over the place and its fantastic. My personal favorite song on this record is “Incomplete Harmony”. It’s more of your run of the mill metal song then what the rest of the album offers. That in itself may seem like a complaint but when you have all this weird and interesting instrumental throughout the rest of the record, it’s nice to have a song that’s a little more straight forward. It still sounds like Within The Ruins but it’s just straight up metal. Wicked song and I hope to hear it incorporated into the live set list. “Ivory Tower” is another great song on this record but didn’t make my top 3.
This record as a whole is well done. You can see the maturity of the band on ‘Halfway Human’ from the vocals to the instruments and even lyrically speaking. This band has a lot going for them here and it leaves substantial building blocks for future releases. I truly hope you all can like this record as much as I did. It did require a couple listens to grasp the idea but when you invest the time this record is fantastic.
‘Halfway Human’ track listing:
“Shape Shifter”
“Death of a Rockstar”
“Beautiful Agony”
“Incomplete Harmony”
“Bittersweet”
“Objective Reality”
“Absolution”
“Ivory Tower”
“Sky Splitter”
“Ataxia IV”
“Treadstone”
Check out Within the Ruins at the links below.
