Age of Ruin "The Tides of Tragedy" CD
[Eulogy]
Hmmm... their last EP on Tribunal was an improvement, but I don't think this record is as promising as any of their past work. They're basically still a melodic Swedish metalcore band, but they're also still too reminiscent of Darkest Hour at times, and the songwriting's not as interesting or creative this time out. They're falling into too many clichéd traps of the genre, such as bringing in some singing vocals to contrast the screams, using rather bland mosh breaks, and so on. Now, I don't mind the use of singing vocals, in some ways I think it could help these guys (with a bit more practice and strength behind those vocals), but the bottom line is that the riffs lack the rocked out energy that they used to have, and the recording is pretty problematic, so the record's just not a very interesting listen. The rhythm section is pretty well recorded, but the overall result lacks punch, and the guitar tone falls completely flat when one guitar drops out. I don't know... it's not smooth enough for the leads, the rhythms aren't bright enough or fluid enough in tone... it's just sort of weak and flimsy. As for the songs themselves, too often the band relies on generic tremolo picking riffs and rather tame Iron Maiden-esque harmonies or hammer-on/pull-off riffs, the breakdowns usually feel out of place and overly basic, etc. I don't feel that they need to use keyboards at all, though when they do (which is rare) they're not bad, but I do enjoy the acoustic passages. In fact, the acoustic instrumental, "Serengeti", while somewhat In Flames-ish, is actually one of the best tracks herein. The other tracks all fall too closely to one another as far as tempo and structure, almost nothing jumps out at me whatsoever. At the end of the disc after several minutes of blank space the band plays the theme music to some old Nintendo game whose name is escaping my mind for some reason, with lots of crowd noise and shit - quite cheesy. Amusing, but cheesy. The layout looks pretty slick, though. Aside from a few decorative icons and whatnot it's pretty minimal as far as imagery goes, focused on sinister colors and textures that are blurred together, with tiny text compactly arranged inside the booklet. The lyrics honestly don't grab me at all, it's pretty typical metaphorical personal material, but I'll give them credit for having a better run at it than most of these bands. Musically, however, this is a big step down for these guys. I was expecting far, far more from this across the board, but I'm pretty much bored to tears by this disc. The entire thing is just a bland bur of riffs that all sound the same, both to the other songs on this disc, and to what else is out there in this genre right now. Oh well. (5/10)
Running time - 54:50, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Serengeti, A Portrait of Solemn Seas]
Eulogy Recordings - http://www.eulogyrecordings.com

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