Release Date: 31 October 2025
Song Count: 9
Duration: 36 minutes, 9 seconds
Rating: 8.0/10
Description:
Song Count: 9
Duration: 36 minutes, 9 seconds
Rating: 8.0/10
Description:
Going into the mystical Detroit-based collective Ritual Howls' newest steps in the musical world from last October, there was difficulty in what to expect, as I was not yet aware of the sonical sphere they travelled in. Ruin, the sixth and latest album in their discography, is emblematic of their general sound - a blend of darkwave, gothic rock and industrial music that feels classy and veiled in shadows - and takes it to its natural maximum. The three-man show puts on a performance that simultaneously feels like a faithful nod to the original style of goth music and the like from decades back - which has been stated to be the primary source of musical inspiration - and a contemporary, timeless work.
The reverberated, eery voice of Paul Bancell radiates around atop the both classic and modern instrumentations of a guitar and bass being blended in with electronic synths, samples and a drum machine for the nine tracks presented. With attention-catching openings and groovy, catchy progressions, plenty of the tracks take advantage of the greatest elements of the different styles it dips its toes into, being reminiscent of the most widely revered bands of the scene in terms of surface-level sound. The particular sort of ironic apathy that comes through a lot of goth-associated music via its combination of bleakness and consistently pacing energy finds itself to be especially strong here and adds a further layer of etheriality caged behind the grounding industrial beats.
What Ritual Howls was aiming for was an embrace of the synergising genre blend they have established for their personal sound and its full effects striking the listener, and that is precisely what Ruin achieves. Though most of the former two third of the album provides a bit of a stronger package in terms of undeniable quality than the final act and one dud in-between that stood out less by comparison, it nevertheless is a work of value that provides plenty to enjoy and esoterically dance to. These three men are in their full element in this particular display of musical prowess and it shows, and this is an album I would highly recommend to any fellow ambassadors of the dark.