Ominous Ruin - Requiem

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Ominous Ruin is a death metal band from San Francisco, California who formed in 2020. Their latest release, “Requiem,” is their second full-length album; they have also released two demos, an EP and a compilation. 

I’m not the biggest tech death fan but when it is good, it is really good. “Requiem,” is indeed a really good album that grabbed me from the beginning. What really stood out for me is that this album is quite a bit more brutal than most other tech death. It doesn’t have a thin sound that focuses on dazzling the ears with endless whiddly wham.  

No, this album has a real heft to it and a density that seems impenetrable. I like how the structures are riff based but still have time to focus on the insane bass, drums, and leads that are hallmarks of the genre. 

I’m also impressed by its unwillingness to be put into one box. “Requiem,” is an album that has a lot of layers, including ambient soundscapes and acoustic passages. But even these unconventional elements are smoothly integrated into the album’s brutal death personality.  

After a brief intro track, “Seeds of Entropy,” arrives to put on display the album’s elements and get the album running in a massive way. The rapid fire riffs and the vocals seem to be having a race on who can be faster while the bass and drums are in a competition to see who is more brutal than brutal. It works great and within a minute the song sounds like the unraveling of a former sane mind. Just after the halfway park, the band throws in a clean passage that makes the frenzied approach afterwards sound even more crazy. 

“Divergent Anomaly,” is one of the most frantic and depraved death metal songs I’ve heard this year—Crystal’s vocals are goddamn ridiculously awesome. Her powerhouse of a vocal attack adds a searing edge to what is already a blade going straight to the heart. Little clean/melodic pieces glue the brutal parts together, stitched up by the crazy solos that are both mesmerizing and melodic. 

One of my favorite songs on the album has to be “Architect of Undoing,” which is the soundtrack for the implosion of the universe. The whole song kicks all the ass available but the quiet parts at 2:45 and 4:56 showcase the band’s willingness to explore other dimensions and boundaries—and their belief that even clean/quiet/atmo pieces have their place amongst the bloodletting and carnage. 

The title song ends the album—and what an ending! The methodical instrumentation is so surgically precise and tight that I felt like my head was going to explode. The song is perfectly paced although the speed at which Crystal spits her venom is faster than the speed light. The band keeps up, the whole song constantly sounding like it's about to explode. This is a very intense song and I highly suggest you jam it with a decent pair of headphones for an engrossing, and slightly scary, experience.

If all tech death albums were as good as Ominous Run’s “Requiem,” then I would like the genre a lot more but, at the same time, it’s nice to hear an album that surprises me at every turn.

Rating: Excellent











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