REDEMPTION – The Origins Of Ruin

Technical brilliance has become a trademark of American quintet Redemption. Their third album, The Origins Of Ruin, confirms this. But, what about the music?

The Music

Redemption have established themselves at the Melodic end of the Progressive Metal scene and The Origins Of Ruin aims to follow the same path. Fans will be thrilled over a grand sound, rhythmic complexity, blistering solos, and intriguing melodies. Songs like opener “The Suffocating Silence,” “Bleed Me Dry,” and “Memory” are all good examples of this, with the latter probably peaking the album. A song like title track “The Origins Of Ruin” adds a quiet moment in a most appropriate manner and goes down as a well made ballad.

But, then there are songs like “Used To Be” and “Fall On You,” which both add little or nothing to the whole of the album, except for a set of fancy riffs and fast solos. And, this brings up something symptomatic for the entire album: the lack of direction and lack of soul. That’s why the album never brings about that spine-chilling shiver you might be waiting for.

The Band

The quintet convinces technically, although they tend to fall a little short emotionally. Singer Ray Alder has a lot to offer, but he sometimes seems misplaced. A very dry vocal mix might be some of the reason for this. The drum and bass combo, made up by Chris Quirarte and Sean Andrews, respectively, delivers the best performance of them all: tight and right and dynamic! Even guitarists Nick van Dyk and Bernie Versailles do a fine job, but neither of them really blow you away with their soloing, which at its best is predictive. Nick van Dyk is brilliant at rhythm guitars, though, and sufficient at the occasional keyboards.

The Verdict

The Origins Of Ruin is bound to please several fans of Progressive Metal. Yet, it is hard to imagine this album going down in history as a classic. It does have some good stuff to offer, but it’s tempting to say it’s been done before. In spite of technical brilliance and intriguing melodies, it never hits the bullseye.