Style: technical death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Soreption, The Zenith Passage, Psycroptic, Vale of Pnath
Country: California, United States
Release date: 9 May 2025
Let’s do some estimating, shall we? According to my meticulous book-keeping, I’ve heard 596 technical death metal records. Rateyourmusic claims there have been 4399 tech death releases since the first one in 1988, but their count includes various music videos, compilations, and singles, while my count is restricted to LPs and EPs. Of course, RYM is an incomplete resource, so I’ll hand-wavily assume their archives miss about as many tech death records as they extra count miscellaneous, non-album releases. Thus, I’ve heard about 14% of all the tech death ever released. At this point, a band has to carve out their own niche if they want to stick around my listening rotation—it’s a numbers game.
Ominous Ruin are just another tech death band, and I could name a hundred bands that sound like them; however, against the odds, Requiem stands out from the crowd because of its quality alone, and I will avoid using any comparisons in this review as a sign of respect for the band. Intricate, groovy patterns manifesting in staccato flurries of notes coalesce from the fretboards of guitarists Alex Bacey (Odious Mortem) and Joel Guernsey (Axial). Their winding riffs move concentrically due to the combination of scale climbing and frantic shifting of audio channels. The two shredders often break free from their groovy staccato rhythms into furious bouts of synchronized trem picking, exciting phrygian leads handed off like a hot potato between the two (“Eternal”), or blazing fretboard fireworks (aka solos, my favorites of which are in “Architect of Undoing” and “Requiem”).
Drummer Harley Blandford is the true star of the show, however, his indefatigable blast beats and shifting rhythms providing Ominous Ruin with all the momentum necessary to push those spiraling guitar parts forward at their sporty tech pace. Blandford pounds away with endless verve and in an impressively metronomic performance for Requiem’s speed—and he nails the difficult balance of groove and uber-velocity. Vocalist Crystal Rose doesn’t have the most range with her harshes, but they’re sufficient; meanwhile, bassist Mitch Yoesle (ex-Inanimate Existence) can hardly be heard—a damn shame. From what little I can hear of his playing, like at the beginning of “Fractal Abhorrence,” it’s wicked, but alas, this oversight is Requiem’s greatest misstep.
Impressively, the album flows from track to track seamlessly. Pacing is historically a weak point for tech death bands in my mind, so Requiem is a breath of fresh air in this regard. Ominous Ruin realize the importance of rest, too, implementing a couple well-placed interludes (“Bane of Syzygial Triality,” “Staring into the Abysm”) as well as calmer sections (intro of “Architect of Undoing”), helping to stave off any possible hints of monotony. The band even spread out the strongest cuts to be beginning (“Eternal”), middle (“Architect of Undoing”), and end (“Requiem”), so the forty minutes fly by with bangers all over the place.
So is Requiem a unique record? No, definitely not. But the album shows that Ominous Ruin are a serious tech death force with the superb songwriting and pacing skills to prove it. Ominous Ruin are only on their sophomore album, too, so they’ve still got plenty of time to find something that better makes them stand out from the crowded scene—and time to hire an outside producer (Bacey handles production and writing in addition to guitar) so that we can hear the bass in all its glory. You can trust me that this one is worth checking out, even for the most jaded tech fans among you.
Recommended tracks: Eternal, Architect of Undoing, Requiem
You may also like: Inanimate Existence, Deeds of Flesh, Stortregn, Aronious, Shadow in the Darkness, Deviant Process, Axial, Aethereus, Anachronism
Final verdict: 7.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives
Label: Willowtip Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Ominous Ruin is:
– Mitch Yoesle (bass)
– Alex Bacey (guitars)
– Harley Blandford (drums)
– Joel Guernsey (guitars)
– Crystal Rose (vocals)
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