In Ruins – Lifeless

If you could open my chest up and rip my heart apart piece by piece, I have a larger percentage dedicated to loving anything crust Punk/d-beat. It’s actually bands like In Ruins that give me the highest of hope for crust to be alive and doing well in America. Don’t get me wrong, crust is doing decent in America but it could be doing better, look at Singapore or any country in Asia for that matter, they love that shit with a passion. Storming out of Atlanta, GA, In Ruins is the type of band that your mother told you not to listen to but your father was all for it because he wanted you to be a fucking man, not some girl who digs heartless music.

Five things come to mind when I listen to this record. First is rawness; just the dirt and filth that In Ruins brings on each track is beyond amazing. The first time you get that raw feeling is from the start of the record with “Parasites”, it’s just so overwhelming that there is no way in hell it’ll sink in before the tracks over. Next on the list is everlasting; an album of this magnitude that speaks volumes as loud as “Lifeless” does, it literally leaves no spaces untouched in a heart that loves crust punk. The tracks on “Lifeless” are far from short as on most crust stuff. The tracks last up to nearly 6 minutes, it brings that fulfillment and joy and goddamn love that crust should bring. Up next is strength; any album that can stand on it’s own two feet as this one has/will deserves the love it gives out. It’s that kind of record that just never gives up and even if you dislike crust, you’ll probably still love how solid this release is.

Tracks such as “In Death” and “Decadence”, they give that stern shit that us crust lovers dig so much. Fourth word to describe this record has to be enchanting; mainly for the reason that “In Search of Something More” is the calmest on the release, yet it still has that heaviness and bare feeling to it. It’s a track that gives you the warm-hearted side of In Ruins, at least, for a couple minutes. Finally, the word shoulders; this is a big one because it’s simple yet it’s very rare that I say this, actually I don’t think I’ve ever said this about an album. “Lifeless” is that album that will carry the whole world of crust on it’s shoulders. No filters, no blocks, no fake images or bullshit, just real heart-driven music that isn’t scared to be the first into battle.

“Lifeless” – a record that will pull you in and only because you wanna love it as much as it loves you. Overall, if you dig bands like Converge, Tragedy or From Ashes Rise, you’ll dig what In Ruins does on this full-length or the EP they released a little while back. I just hope that these dudes can keep it going because they have the talent and heart to make classic albums, no doubt in my mind about that. Support these dudes and just give crust/d-beat a new breath of life, it’ll help a lot when you don’t have much life left in America.

Official Reverbnation. Official Myspace.