In All Her Ruin

The First Charm Offensive

Written by: TL on 12/06/2007 16:59:48

Ladies and gentlemen, it is June and that means we're enduring the final slowmoving days before the newyear of rock'n'roll aka. Roskilde Festival will finally be upon us. Since that event marks the time where we at Rockfreaks.net completely wipe our memory of the previous year by means of the holy Tuborg beer, this is also the time where all the stuff we've got on our hands has to start getting done, and without further reasoning I bring you the debut EP of one of the few bands in Denmark that can be associated with emo or screamo, namely In All Her Ruin.

I first noticed this band when I heard their demo "Avoiding Planecrashes By Holdning My Breath", which although being a bit simple, was also a catchy and more than promising track. From the first of the four tracks on "The First Charm Offensive", it seems the band has moved out of the basement/garage, as the sound is now more produced with heavier guitars and louder drums, and on the song in question, opener "You're A Broken Record Johnny D", we're treated to a relentless barrage of the marauding screams that make out the majority of this band's vocals. The song is one fierce screamo beast, and the backing vocals that sound like they're broadcasted through a radio doesn't do much to soften it up. The following "My, What Pretty Claws" takes a more accessible approach with clearly audible clean refrains littered all over the song that is otherwise a follow up on the screamo/post-hardcore style the band laid out on the first track.

"We're The Lack Of Tonight's Television Show" sees a bit more dynamics, as the verses are accompanied by a quieter accustic guitar, while rising to the same level of fury as the other songs in the end. Now so far, the vocalwork on this record has been damn well hostile, but on the closing "She's Drowning In The Hotel Years" the band finally cracks up a bit, as catchy and melodic lines like "Keep it looocked and looaded! My shotgun behind her door" actually start drawing you into the song like sirensong in a stormy ocean. This somehow makes the rest of the song so much more appealing than it's predecessors, and suddenly it's like it becomes easier to let the breakdowns and jagged guitarriffage crawl under your skin.

While this is incredibly positive for the impression of the bands progression with songwriting it is unfortunately also a fat line under the facts that hold this record back, because even though such relentless aggression as especially the first song displays can be a good trait, on this record it has kind of the same effect on you as listening to In All Her Ruins metalcore countrymen in As We Fight. You know it's something that would just slay an audience live, but somehow on record it seems a little too in your face and a little too unvaried. However, "The First Charm Offensive" is definetely a fine debut for a band in a genre that's damn near neglected in their own country, and there is absolutely no reason for screamo and hardcore lovers to not keep an eye on these guys in the future.

Download: She's Drowning In The Hotel Years, My What Pretty Claws,
For the fans of: Adept, Bless The Fall,
Listen: MySpace

Release Date 21.03.2007
UNSIGNED BAND

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