Lie in Ruins – Towards Divine Death [Finland, Death] (2014)

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Dark Descent | 2-4-14

Dark Descent | 2-4-14

This is an exercse in precision. Lie in Ruins is a Finnish death metal act with a release on Dark Descent Records. This is similar to Corpsessed, which is another Finnish death metal act also with a recent release from Dark Descent. In fact these two bands live less than an hour away from each other. If there were not so much good European death being released, then things wouldn’t become a problem. in fact if Corpsessed and Lie in Ruins released their records years apart, it would be cause for note. the fact that it came out within the same month is sending me to struggle to keep track.

Lie in Ruins, while similar to their neighbor, is stylistically different from Corpsessed. Lie in Ruins’ sound is more geared to a mid range rather than a subterranean style of Corpsessed. Additionally, the vocals in Towards Divine Death resemble more of distant wail flung high from a stone pillar into an ensuring demonic mob than the standard guttural cry. Once past the initial shock of death metal, the style offers a fields of subtlety in texture and sound. “Venomous Tongues” has an undeniable groove buried 7 floors beneath the surface while “Blood of the Dead” is an emotionally gripping song with atmosphere as its primary concern. Despite its 70 minute running time, Towards Divine Death is surprisingly easy to process if one prepares themselves for the aforementioned demonic mob.