{"id":104888,"date":"2025-05-09T00:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T23:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=104888"},"modified":"2025-05-16T11:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:01:08","slug":"album-review-ominous-ruin-requiem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-ominous-ruin-requiem\/","title":{"rendered":"OMINOUS RUIN – Requiem (2025) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

OMINOUS RUIN
Requiem<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nWillow Tip (2025)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Tech-death has never been my cup of tea, but every now and then I\u2019ll lend a hesitant ear to such a slab. In this case it\u2019s the second full-length album from San Francisco, California-based combo Ominous Ruin. Since the last outing, Amidst Voices That Echo In Stone<\/em>, in 2021 a major change has taken place with long time vocalist Adam Rosado fleeing the nest to be replaced by Crystal Rose. She\u2019s joined here by other longstanding members Alex Bacey (guitar) and Mitch Yoesle (bass), while Joel Guernsey (guitar) and Harley Blandford (drums), who both joined in 2020, complete the line-up.<\/p>\n

As I anticipated, with Requiem<\/em> there are plenty of hyper drum blasts, busy guitar work and the usual formulaic but effective growls. I did expect something heavier, but maybe the production is to blame for that because at times the whole thing sounds a bit tinny and thin. However, the album is awash with technicality and dynamic melodies and not once did I find myself mourning the absence of Rosado.<\/p>\n

Crystal Rose does a fine job with the immense gruff bellows as \u2018Seeds Of Entropy\u2019 breaks through with angular bass lines and percussive flurries. Every instrument weaves its way through the wiry framework with a jarring fluidity. It\u2019s just a shame that there is a lack of beef in the production. Even so, some of the axe work available is fantastic and although such albums can be a bit of an unrelenting jab to the skull, after a few spins one really does begin to get their feet under the table.<\/p>\n

Admittedly the first handful of plays result in dizzy spells, not that Ominous Ruin does anything different than any other tech-death band, and while there are moments of repetition there\u2019s still much to admire. Maybe I\u2019m just a sucker for a guttural female voice, but Crystal really does drag this platter into gnarlier depths.<\/p>\n

\u2018Eternal\u2019 simmers nicely, remaining steady on the complex percussive kicks and rolls as the angular guitar weaves itself through the nooks. However, \u2018Eternal\u2019 also showcases some of my quibbles, namely that the drums at times just sound quite clicky to the point of irritating. Again, I ask where is the meat? Crystal\u2019s vocals resort to a less welcoming snap this time round and I\u2019m left craving her chesty huffs.<\/p>\n

Ominous Ruin certainly likes to experiment though, even if that\u2019s somewhat predictable too, but in \u2018Architect Of Undoing\u2019 there\u2019s some tranquil passages, a smattering of jerks and tremors and a dazzling solo, but it doesn\u2019t feel like nerd showboating. \u2018Fractal Abhorrence\u2019 begins with a sci-fi sort of synth and then slips into latter day Death alongside Beyond Creation.<\/p>\n

Requiem<\/em> is riddled with spidery axe work and there\u2019s no denying the talent on show here as countless melodies slip into mesmeric layering. It doesn\u2019t matter how zany and crazed this album gets though, the familiarity of sounds remains as strong hints of Deeds Of Flesh waft on the breeze. But don\u2019t let such comparisons hinder your opinion of the band, because Ominous Ruin are so obviously making strides, spreading their wings and reinventing themselves \u2013 and there\u2019s no harm in that.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OMINOUS RUINRequiem Willow Tip (2025)Rating: 7\/10 Tech-death has never been my cup of tea, but every now and then I\u2019ll lend a hesitant ear to such a slab. In this case it\u2019s the second full-length album from San Francisco, California-based combo Ominous Ruin. Since the last outing, Amidst Voices That Echo In Stone, in 2021 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5914],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-ominous-ruin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104888"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104893,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104888\/revisions\/104893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}