Rooms Of Ruin - "...All Is Ended"

Rooms Of Ruin are a 4 piece, southern fried sludge metal monster from Middletown,NY. The entire 3 piece of the previously reviewed industrial metal band Cabal 34 make up the base foundation of this band. Bassist/vocalist Ken Faggio, Drummer Annie Terror and guitarist Dave Mayer are joined by lead guitarist Steve Levin to form Rooms Of Ruin and churn out 11 doom-laden dirges with their full length debut "...All Is Ended". A touch of the Cabal 34 sound is found here, mainly in the vocals of course, and Cabal 34 are known to dip some of their riffs in Mississippi swamp water, but Rooms Of Ruin is a different beast all together and is absolutely soaked in Nola sludge under a thick layer of smoky stoner riffery. "Whore Of The Winds" kicks this full length off, thick as a cinder block and rife with Down-meets-Cathedral riffs that stomp through the speakers relentlessly. "Mindspear" trudges along like a rusty wheel with it's gloomy passages and face melting guitar solo's. There's an almost "Dirt" era Alice In Chains vibe here, just with lower tuning and a more sinister vocal approach. "Path Of The Beam" kicks the pace back up a bit but keeps that down and dirty N'awlins feeling going. The riffs in this song are pure Sabbath worship and sound as if they could have been harvested from the same field that Down grew their riffs for their debut album. "A Touch Of The Strange" with it's ominous guitar licks would make Tony Iommi proud, THIS is what I think of when I say the words "Doom Metal", unforgettable riffs transition into each other very smoothly here, this song definitely has the classic vibe, nothing sounds over-thought or forced in this song or on the entire album in general. "Gods Drink Blood" is my personal fave on this disk, although I truly love the whole disk front to back, but if I were to personally showcase one song to get people into this band and album it'd be this kick ass tune. It's got the extra slow, tarry riffs you crave with every classic doom band, but there's also the more uptempo stoner pieces(more akin to the likes of Kyuss and Dio-era Black Sabbath) to help push and pull the overall mood of this dark anthem. "Language Of The Unformed", boasts an almost thrash like verse and chorus. I hear a bit more of the Cabal 34 sound here, but c'mon thats to be expected, especially in a tune such as this with is quicker, fist pumping pace. The bridges bring the pace back down with and almost death/doom feel via Mausoleum or Autopsy. "Rooms Of Ruin" brings this album to a close. An almost 7 minute epic that creeps along at a chunky, morbid pace. Tasty, straight up brutal verse and chorus passages dig their way into your brain and dont leave once you've been exposed to them. All in all what we have here is a dark, raw offering of brutally heavy, sludgy doom metal, not many doom-mongers in the local or national scene are offering up the low and slow metal onslaught like Rooms Of Ruin. Given the right push and support I dont see why Rooms Of Ruin couldnt be touring with bands like High On Fire or Sourvein and playing festivals like Stoner Hands Of Doom. Find this band on facebook at : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rooms-Of-Ruin/213219968748214 to keep up with their show schedule and inquire how to buy a copy of their awesome debut "...All Is Ended". You can hear cuts from this disk every monday night on The Shroud at www.brutalexistenceradio.com

Cabal 34 - "Cryptocracy"

Cabal 34 are a 3 piece industrial metal band from Middletown,NY. Here they serve up their raw and gritty album from 2011 "Cryptocracy". This 13 song offering is full of chunky riffs, sludgy bass and pulsating, hypnotic rythmns that call to mind classic Ministry. Album opener "Dead As Dreams" boasts a punky/thrash vibe with an infectious chorus and riffs that would give goose bumps to Prong's Tommy Victor. "Parabellum" has a very anthemic feel with it's fist pumping verse and chorus and it's chaotic, neck snapping bridge. The great thing about this band is they dont flood their songs with needless loops and fills, while there are a decent share of movie quotes and clips and such, it actually adds to the musical atmosphere and doesnt feel forced in order to cover up any lack of musicianship. Cabal 34 are industrial metal without the "mechanical" feeling, the band keep it very raw and organic and original. Lyrically this album is themed around politicians and the corrupt government and all the lies we are spoon fed in the media every day much as was the case in their debut 2007's "Age Of Poison Thought". "Slow Acting Poison" lyrically deals with the environment around us and chemical issues we've been dealing with in our food and in the air around us. "Rex-84" with it's droning verse riff and punk fuelled chorus, brings to light how we are being raised as fear mongers and the media uses terror as a weapon against us to keep us sheltered by "big brother". "Children Of God" focuses on the religion fueled war and killings in the middle east. Vocal clips of middle eastern vocals swirl into the mix here and fit perfectly with this songs thumping tribal rythmns and pulsating guitar licks. "Cryptocracy" the album's title track is my personal fave here. I personally love when an album's title track really kicks my ass, it makes me like all the other tunes even more as I feel the title track makes the ultimate statement about the album as a whole. The spacy, mesmerizing verse with it's eerie guitar fills give way to a brutal chorus and a pounding outro containing more thought provoking clips themed around government conspiracy. The absolutely raging "Anno Lucis" closes this album out with it's throbbing stoner metal riffery that calls to mind "Deliverance" era Corrosion Of Conformity. Completely infectious and undeniably catchy, this song plods along for just over 9 minutes, but I can guarantee you'll not only want to hear this track again, but you'll need another listen to the full disk as well. Cabal 34 put forth an A+ effort here not just because of the incredibly catchy and well crafted songwriting contained in the 13 tracks that make up "Cryptocracy", but because of their originality factor. There is no other band bashing out the headbanging goodness in the Hudson Valley of NY in the style that Cabal 34 is doing it. This band definitely has their influences, but they take the ball and run with their own flavor in a very refreshing way. Do yourself a favor and check out this great band on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cabal-34-band/172136586138434 and you can email them at CabalThirtyFour@yahoo.com and keep up with their upcoming shows and buy yourself a copy of "Cryptocracy" and their debut "Age Of Poison Thought". You can hear cuts from this album Thursday nights on Up From The Underground at www.brutalexistenceradio.com the internet's #1 station for heavy metal!!!