Title: Cursed
Date of Release: April 2014
Genre: Doom/Alternative
Website: http://cursedruin.bandcamp.com/album/cursed
Reviewed by: Geoff McGraw
Track listings: 1. The Cursed 2. Einsam 3.Doom Of Everything 4. Keine Sie Mehr 5. Die Verkommende Liebe 6. Nightmare Come Again 7. The Shade Of Love 8. When He Died... 9. The Shade Of Love (acoustic)
Ruin is the one man project of Paul Kretz and is based in Russia, each of the 9 tracks on this album were recorded during the 7 years between 2003 and 2010. Then mixed and mastered over the last 2 years since 2012.
The biggest sole influence on Mr. Kretz is obviously Type O Negative and Peter Steele. It is impossible to not draw the conclusion nearly immediately. Right off the bat I would point out that for me "When He Died..." is the standout track to me.
Musically Drums, and Guitars make up the rhythm of the tracks, while keyboards in more often than not provide both atmospheric and melodic duties, although the guitar has some standout melodic parts as well. The instruments themselves provide a bleak sounding atmosphere, less what I would consider a doom feel and more of a depressive feel, perfect for an evening of razor blade fantasies by teenage cutters into the goth scene.
Vocally Kretz mixes it up with several different styles, from clean to what could be termed "gentle" death metal. Again the comparison to Peter Steele can not be missed both in tone and delivery. He also mixes languages, although apparently from Russia, he ignores the language, instead choosing English and German as his chosen tableau.
As a whole The album was somewhat flat, and there were production issues that seem to detract even further. This can happen when an album is produced over a period of 11 years with what one would assume are different recording formats and platforms, as well as changing ideas and vision from the artist. This album would fall into the "take it off the shelf and listen to it once in a great while" type. Not a bad recording, but neither does it offer anything innovative or new. It also fails to have those moments that grab you and suck you in, demanding that you hit replay to hear something again.
4 out of 10 horns
No comments:
Post a Comment