Artist: Tumultuous Ruin
Title: Never A Night So Dark
Type: EP
Label: Digital / Fiadh Productions
I was very wary of any politics in black metal for a long while, even those that my ‘red, anarchist, liberal’ soul agrees with. I prefer to stay with the demonic, occult, mythic and I guess philosophical aspects. But of course they are inextricably political anyway to one degree or another and, besides, also, Nazi black metal fuck off. My mind was changed initially by an encounter with the UKs sadly defunct anarchist black metal trio Dawn Ray’d (go hunt them out if the name is new – think a black metal version of Levellers…) who I caught at a festival, really enjoyed the music and furious spirit and approached them politely asking if they really could really call themselves black metal with very politically charged lyrics. Patiently and very politely (as they must have been asked hundreds of times before) they discussed it with me. I was impressed not just by their open demeanour but their thoughts on how and why they were and their enthusiasm for black metal as a genre. Plus life is political. Sitting in a shack in the woods away from cities is an intensely personal and political act. Get real Giz….
Sorry, long intro.
So Tumultuous Ruin are the best kind of political black metal. RABM. Red, Anarchist. Cool. But is the bloody music any good or is it just ranting?
Oooo, boy. Buckle up.
‘Undead Corpse Of Empire’ opens with a call to rise up and then a deep, dark ithunderous subterranean riff pummels through. The vocals are strong, echoing, aggressive. The feel is that weird knife edge between the doomiest, most chthonic black metal and
blackened death. Yet you feel in your bones this is black metal and even better it is not just wearing the cloak to push some politics. This is utterly determined black metal.
The shock reverberates into ‘Toward Their Chains’. Punch drunk from the opener, the deeply atmospheric, introspective and melodic wall of sound just cuts me open without resistance. The mood is grey, deep in melancholy. The riff is fierce but the melody, the trembling tremolo, cuts through with a rich golden and thoughtful sound. It’s a truly beautiful thought provoking sound.
‘Climate Chaos Manifest’ may be the most unlikely black metal title for a good while, but damn, again, what a song. The furious drumming, the chilling riff and the fury in the delivery is like being in the middle of a storm. The vocals here are the chaos deep in the mix, a truly apocalyptic feel to them. It’s a superb song, masterfully arranged to deliver the wall of wild noise and impossibly hook riddled attack.
Finally we get…a Skinny Puppy cover. Never been sure why more black metal bands haven’t dipped their toes into Puppy waters…Seem like one of the industrial bands that should appeal so much to black metal fans. ‘Smothered Hope’. Blistering. Nihilistic darkness powered by phenomenal drumming and a true black metal sound to the guitar, the insertion of the weird always swallowed by a monomaniacal tumble into the abyssal riff. If you didn’t know the song you’d swear this was originally black metal.
Oh I cannot tell you how surprised I was when this came at me out of the blue. Clearly a phenomenal, and committed artist. It’s time for me to get the back catalogue and check out their full length album.
Aggressive, focussed, bitter, dark, twisted and just reeking of talent and integrity. One of the finest bits of black metal I have heard this year. The songwriting, the arrangements and the performance is just stunning.
Go join the uprising.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 