Ceremonious yet punctilious in their craft of odes and rituals to the despairing path Portland, Oregon-based death/doom metal quartet SOLITARY RUIN introduce themselves here on this debut EP as ancients-sourced emotive font, a sullen heap upon the listener scoured down to only its most efficacious lines of mysterious esotericism and soul-rusting gloom. ‘Rite of Despondency‘ is the anxietous and wilting pulse of dissociation, a slow step through a distended graveyard of personal examination in reflection of physical pains and spiritual torments, all far more intense than the unwitting self might’ve realized. Their work is pristine environs to immerse the ailing mind within, a glowing yet sinister step applied to its romanticist haul wherein early 90’s death/doom metal arrangement meets up with the atmospheric arousal of post-millennium funeral death/doom metal.

Solitary Ruin formed a couple of years ago between folks you should recognize from various underground factions past-and-present in Portland’s ever growing pipeline for the dark and extreme, at the very least vocalist/drummer R. Koger, who’d featured in now defunct crews Troll and Ossuarium, should stand out for the death and doom metal realm-siders. Their aim to start was in tribute to the classic sounds of United States death/doom metal and not squarely obsessed with the 90’s as one might expect though it would make sense to hear this EP and think of the ‘Lost Paradise‘ influenced side of USDM rather than directly pointing to Cianide and /or Winter. This path more-or-less leads us closer to the early days of say, Ceremonium and Accidental Suicide before bands like Dusk and Morgion introduced more of the gothic “Peaceville three” delirium to the states. For the sake of saying all of these things at once (and in observance of the name of the band) there is definitely a bit of Evoken‘s broader inspiration in their marrow.

If you are as big a fan of ‘Antithesis of Light‘ as I am, and I know there are many, the introduction of opener “Hedonistic Apathy” and Solitary Ruin‘s atmospheric depth per a dual-tonal approach to rhythm guitar should speak to the suggested era of said band in general but this is a starting point for the drift of their personae and not at all the complete rub of it. With the suggested connection made between early 90’s U.K. death/doom and the United States’ own pole position acts in mind these folks bring an already broad palette to each of these four songs, the first being a steady usher down the tubes and “Divine Punishment” acting as the pure death metal ignition point. Whether you are a fan of Mortiferum or Gorement that steady, slow burnt push of the main riff on the second song alongside the rattle and bash of the drums should reek of old school death metal without caveat, weirding movement and an almost Finnish touch to the first couple of minutes of the song before the psychedelic post-‘Dance of December Souls‘ clean guitar shuddering takes the song through the slow vacuum of its Eldritch corridor. Simple as these rhythmic movements are moment-to-moment there is always tension, seething and unreal motion in the air as these songs warm and twist into their estranged knots.

Those first two songs were enough to convince me this was exactly my kind of death/doom metal, that which is both traditional and still a viable contemporary of the best around today, be it Innumerable Forms or Spectral Voice, but I’m not sure I was ready for the second half. Without any hyperbole or exaggerative poise intended “Corporeal Anguish” might be one of the best songs I’ve heard all year and, sure, despite the inspiration of its intimately lain hooks being clear enough. There is a struggle away from pain felt in the creeping and climbing step of those notes, simple as the progression which constitutes said hook is, it feels clipped right out of a circa 1994 death/doom metal band’s repertoire but given a modern (but not too modern) gust into a greater hall with a very specific drum sound helping pull these realms together. The second half of the song builds its own dreadful momentum, moldering slow and pushing back in a way that balances the intimacy of the opening with something closer to a minimal death metal groove. Anyhow, the song is a pure magick moment from my point of view and one that’d easily –make– a full-length if they’ve got more of those in ’em.

Otherwise with “Wheel of Cruelty” we are more-or-less reprising the concrete headstone draped atmosphere of the opener with a song I’d suggest has the most funeral death/doom metal affect to start. As you’ll have noticed each piece goes somewhere different than it’d started in the space of about ~six minutes on average and usually a point of wraith-like creep into a more sturdy, morbid death metal jog. In this case every one of the stylized moments and rhythmic tics that’d characterized the EP thus far makes it way into this all-in-one song, complete with a brain-rippling doomed lead into a more spastic set of riffs beyond the ~3:11 minute mark.

Of course you could fixate on the moment-to-moment mechanics of an album like this and appreciate all of the gears moving at once or you could enjoy the pulverization and surrealism as they trade hands in effect, I’d found no matter what mode I’d been in this was a fine listening experience and a pretty sharp production overall (engineer/mix from Evan Mersky @ Red Lantern Studios + master from Will Killingsworth @ Dead Air Studios) as everyone involved seemed to fully grasp what this record -should- sound like and the result quickly defines Solitary Ruin as a contender and a brilliant troupe right off the jump. For my own taste this is easily one of the best releases of August and an essential check for fans of classics-minded death and doom. A high recommendation.

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