UMUR "Unlock the Shrine" (subtitled "Reliquary of the White Abyss") is the debut full-length studio album by German atmospheric black/doom metal act The Ruins of Beverast. The album was released through Van records in August 2004. The Ruins of Beverast was formed in 2003 by Alexander von Meilenwald (who handles all instruments and vocals on the album) after the demise of his former band Nagelfar. "The Furious Waves of Damnation" demo was released in 2003.

If your introduction to The Ruins of Beverast was through the "The Furious Waves of Damnation" (2003) demo, the sound of "Unlock the Shrine" is probably a bit of a surprise. The demo occasionally hinted at the sound of this album, but is predominantly a fast-paced raw and atmospheric black metal release.

The music style of "Unlock the Shrine" is a bit hard to describe as it takes equal influences from black and doom metal, but aren´t really neither. The tracks are generally long, featuring only a few main riffs and beats, but they build slowly towards climaxes and layers upon layers of atmospheric guitar riffs, keyboards, samples which are added along the way. The vocals are predominantly black metal type screams, and the album does feature sections which are close to regular mid-paced black metal (and some parts which are fast-paced blasting black metal). The greatest asset of the music is the gloomy and depressive atmosphere, which is further enhanced by the repetitive nature of the tracks. Heavy and oppressive music best listened to in the dark...

"Unlock the Shrine" features a very well sounding production job. It´s harsh, raw, and organic, but also detailed and every instrument and vocal part is audible in the mix. It´s the kind of production which is purposedly rough around the edges, and kudos must be given to Meilenwald for creating such a masterful sound for his material. I´m intrigued by Meilenwald´s vision and by his skills, which means he is able to deliver that vision to the world. I hear moments of a genius at play in the way the songs are composed. When that is said, some tracks are maybe a bit too repetitive and drag on for a little too long, but those are minor issues on an otherwise high quality release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Furious Waves Of Damnation" is a demo release by German atmospheric black/doom metal act The Ruins of Beverast. The demo was independently released in 2003. The Ruins of Beverast was formed in 2003 by Alexander von Meilenwald and it´s a one-man project with Meilenwald handling all instruments and vocals. Before forming The Ruins of Beverast, Meilenwald was a member of German black metal act Nagelfar from 1993 to 2002, after which he and fellow founder Zorn decided to split-up the band. Nagelfar released three full-length studio albums while active, so Meilenwald was already at this point a relatively seasoned musician/composer.

The material on "The Furious Waves Of Damnation" is quite different from the sound of the following releases by The Ruins of Beverast, and does not serve as a representative early peak view of the project´s sound and style. In that respect it´s a bit of an odd release in the band´s discography, but maybe Meilenwald just hadn´t yet figured out what he wanted to do with his new project. Stylistically this is pretty simple, repetitive, and lo-fi produced black metal. The sound production is thin and the guitar tone very fuzzy and noisy, which often makes it difficult to make out what´s going on. The predominantly fast-paced tremolo riffs and blasting drumming blur together in a thin sounding noisy inferno. The vocals are pretty standard for the genre. Raw and snarling reverb laden croaking. Keyboards and lead guitar parts are used to create eerie atmospheres.

The tracks are typically repetitive in nature and rely on simple gloomy atmospheres. The performance by Meilenwald is organic, but especially the drumming isn´t the most precise. The blast beat sections are very long though, so Meilenwald is excused for not being on point all the time considering the physical endurance needed. This is after all a demo release. Upon conclusion "The Furious Waves Of Damnation" is the odd one out in the discography of The Ruins of Beverast, and although a few slower parts (for example on "Suicide Feast") do point in the direction of things to come, this demo is so completely different in style, that it could well have been a totally different artists performing. It´s not a bad quality demo release, but it´s not exactly spectacular either and a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

siLLy puPPy It’s been four years since the one-man act Alexander von Meilenwald has released anything under his THE RUINS OF BEVERAST project but a four year gap is pretty much the norm as Mellenwald clearly favors quality over quantity of material not to mention the two splits that emerged in 2020 with Mourning Beloveth and Almyrkvi. THE THULE GRIMOIRES is the sixth full album experience from the mighty BEVERAST which has consistently cranked out a slew of highly sophisticated and enticing examples of extreme metal that continue to defy classification. Is it atmospheric black metal? Is it death-doom? Or is it avant-garde progressive? Well, throw in all of the aforementioned and a healthy dose of dark ambient in the proper doses doused with the fertile creative mind of a dedicated musician and voila, you have the recipe for some highly innovative 21st century metal in the making.

THULE refers to the location farthest north in ancient Greek and Roman world but with the advent of the concept ultima THULE acquired a metaphorical extensional meaning of any place beyond the borders of the known world, a perfect concept for the murky blackened sonic storm of sound to wrap themselves around especially when paired with the term GRIMOIRE which is a textbook of magic and serves as an instructional guide on how to create magical objects such as talismans, amulets as well as a guide for casting spells and summoning supernatural entitles ranging from diving angels to hellish demons. THE TULE GRIMOIRES as a concept offers a glimpse into a terrifying world beyond our comprehension where demonic wizardry and the realities of the hellish underworld provide the inspiration for this collection of seven sprawling tracks that collectively exceed the 69 minute mark.

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST albums are notorious for being lengthy atmospheric compositions that embark on darkened journeys and employ the sounds of various metal styles as well as ambient sounds to craft an otherworldly soundscape that perfectly synchronizes with the subject matter at hand. THE THULE GRIMOIRES is no exception in continuing this tradition however the beauty of this project is that Mellenwald never relies on the copy and paste method for crafting new music magic. THE THULE GRIMOIRES features the recognizable black metal guitar fuzz, the sprawling ten minute plus compositions teased out into meandering musical form as well as the expected extreme metal vocal style of previous BEVERAST offerings. This album however adopts more of a gothic metal approach with clean ghoulish vocals often replacing the raspy growls and calm icy slow tempos inching the album along in death-doom procession.

With less emphasis on the overall metal elements of THE THULE GRIMOIRES, Mellenwald casts his gaze on the potentials of a production job that amplifies the grimness value with oscillating guitar distortion, engaging atmospheric contrapuntal sound swarms as well as placing the focus on the flow of the album and the overarching psychological effects rather than on any particular track. The album is technically demarcated by the chapters Aurora, Than and Sad Chapel and is noticeable less bombastic than previous albums and in many ways sounds like a more experimental version of Type O Negative during the gothic excursions to Transylvania and back. Despite the black metal tag awarded, THE THULE GRIMOIRES feels the least black metal of the entire BEVERAST canon as blastbeats are for the most part tamped down in favor of a plodding procession into the darkness with guitar chords sustained in glacial drone metal perpetuity.

While i cannot honestly declare THE THULE GRIMOIRES to be the most exuberant or compelling chapter of THE RUINS OF BEVERAST canon, i can definitely appreciate that Mellenwald doesn’t simply rest on his laurels and continuously crafts a completely differing musical experience from one album to the next, a talent he has showcased ever since his Nagelfar days. As with all BEVERAST releases, this is not one to rush through and to expect it to sink in immediately. This dense package of sounds is so intricately designed that you could probably drive yourself crazy analyzing the minutia but despite the lack of the desired bombast of yore, still comes off as an interesting and unique excursion into the gothened RUINS OF BEVERAST universe and one that is worthy of attention for those who love the more modern high brow compositional fortitude of experimental metal.

Warthur I've never explored The Ruins of Beverast before, but the notes of those who've previously delved into that particular dungeon suggest an interesting progression on the part of its architects. Records suggest that the Ruins began on a foundation of atmospheric black metal, before the Beverastian ruler Alexander von Meilenwald took a turn into death-doom territory.

Certainly, the treasure I found in the region known as Exuvia bears out this idea, because the foundations of atmospheric black metal - blast beats and ambient influences mostly - are frequently evident even amid the towering structures of death-doom, lending them a certain stark majesty which makes the Ruins stand apart from the pack.

There's also a certain tribal influence detectable - mostly in the form of distant chants; I am not particularly well-placed to judge whether these inclusions have been chosen with care to ensure an apt selection appropriate to the material being presented as well as respecting the original source, or whether it's some cheap cultural appropriation of some cool-sounding noises which von Meilenwald doesn't even understand and inadvertently renders the material hilarious if you actually knew how inappropriate the choice was... but gosh, does it sound cool.

"Exuvia" refers to the discarded shell of an arthropod - you know, crabs or spiders or insects, those kind of critters - after it's moulted, much as the Beverastian people moulted their old atmospheric black metal ways for a more experimental path. Having come away from the Ruins of Beverast bearing these intriguing samples, I think I will be exploring more of the fallen city sooner or later.

Vim Fuego Elevator music is much scorned, and for good reason. It is generally bland, soulless crap which is so inoffensive it is offensive. It is music so stripped of vitality and life it can be, and usually is, ignored. Occasionally, if your thoroughly bored mind wanders far enough, you might find yourself whistling along to “Hammond Organ Hits of the Swinging Sixties” or “Pan Flute Prairie Party”, entirely without meaning to. It is your unconscious mind trying to wake you from your blank-eyed stare.

‘Exuvia’ by The Ruins of Beverast seems to start off in the vein of black metal elevator music, featuring an ancient sounding Native American chant, and a ringing guitar tone, eventually underscored by a subdued black metal beat, and it seems like this album is destined for droning atmospheric black metal dullness, coming soon to an elevator near you.

To assume this and stop paying close attention is a mistake. Before you know it, ‘Exuvia’ has you trapped in a sticky spiders web, hypnotically entranced by the sheer depth and breadth of this work. This album covers so many bases. It has long, almost ambient drones, crushing doom/death sections, black metal both atmospheric and raw, devastating sludge passages, and compelling samples. Like a savage dog, straining on its chain, you know when it gets loose it’s going to hurt you, but you’re still surprised as you feel the canines sinking into pliant human flesh.

This whole lengthy album seems it should be the work of a modern day metallic orchestra, yet it is all the creation of just one man. Alexander von Meilenwald composed and played almost the entirety of this album himself (there are two guest keyboard players listed in the credits) and it makes for an incredibly cohesive album, despite the plethora of sub-genres explored.

Don’t take this too lightly. It might not seem like much at first, but when it has crawled up your trousers and taken bloody chunks from your genitalia like a rabid ferret, you will definitely take notice. Approach ‘Exuvia’ as a single massive multi-faceted work, like a modern symphony.