Conor Fynes
'Creature' - Within The Ruins (5/10)
Throughout my experience with Within The Ruins, I have kept coming back to two main points about them that shape my opinion of them. Firstly, it is clear that they are very good musicians, particularly the guitarists. Secondly (and more importantly), they suffer from a lack of the things that make music memorable for me; dynamics, melodies, or even a mild sense of experimentation. Although my view on them has not always been very positive, I have stuck with them for the single fact that with each album, they kept showing more promise, and while the issue of memorable songwriting remains something of an issue, these guys certainly know how to make some riffs of stunning technicality. 'Creature' is the first full-length that Within The Ruins has done, and without a doubt, it is a significant step above anything they have had to offer on any of their EPs. Many of my issues with the band are still here largely, but they are beginning to counter their weaknesses head on with their fierce approach.
Although Within The Ruins is generally labelled as a deathcore, or metalcore band (labels I have used to describe them in the past), I find that they have strayed from these styles with 'Creature'. True, there are still a fair share of thrashy verses, gang vocals, and- yes- the dreaded breakdowns, but much of 'Creature' shows Within The Ruins blistering away on parts that make them sound closer to tech death than anything. The music throws new ideas at the listener with unrelenting speed, and by the end of the album, one is bound to feel exhausted. There are no longer any aspects of the music which outright annoy me; even the chugging breakdowns are never dwelled on long enough to start derailing the flow that these songs have.
While all of these guitar riffs are complex and indicative of an obvious tightness that the band has formed with each other, it cannot shake the fact that Within The Ruins does not do anything here that would not already be expected of them and their style. There has been that much appreciated move away from their root sound, but I still get this feeling that the music played on 'Creature' is largely technical metal-by-numbers. There are a few fleeting moments, such as the Spanish acoustic build on 'Jump Ship' that break away from this, but the technical metal itself never breaks down any walls, and suffers from a very feeling. The hardcore shouting vocals are also a tad undesirable, although that's more a matter of personal taste than anything else.
Within The Ruins is a very talented band, and up until now, they have continued to improve. However, I can only hope that they will be able to add a new dimension to their sound in the future; this dry, modern approach to technical metal is still doing very little for me.