Under Ruins – Age of the Void Review

By Steel Druhm

Some metal aficionados may remember German prog-power act Lanfear. They released some killer material in the mid-aughts, with The Art Effect and Another Golden Rage being especially tasty, and I stamped a mighty 4.0 on their 2012 effort, This Harmonic Consonance. It’s been almost 11 years since they’ve released anything, and it appears they are finished, but here comes Under Ruins, a new project made up of members of Lanfear and Them. On their Age of the Void debut, they offer prog-infused epic metal with an interesting blend of influences that run the gamut from Manowar to Fates Warning. This is an album full of large-scale set pieces loaded with power, poise, and emotion, all highly polished and classy as fook, delivered by talented vets with major chops. What could possibly go wrong with such a winning formula?

As it turns out, very little. This is the kind of album that makes you wonder where these cats have been all your life. After a table-setting intro rife with anticipation, you’re launched into the 7-plus minute epic “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death” (ESL stumble?). It’s a massive song that sounds like a collaboration between Evergrey and Tad Morose. It’s powerful and gripping, and though the lyrics scream trve metal, everything is draped in deep melancholy and sadboi aesthetics. It’s brilliant and beautiful, and the vocals by Lanfear frontman Nuno Miguel de Barros Fernandes hit you right in the feelz. This is grand, sweeping, epic doom-adjacent gold. “Lost Amidst the Unfathomable Abyss” keeps the epic gravy flowing hot and juicy, maintaining a sense of sadness while striving for a strident bravado. Imagine if you can a sadboi Manowar recounting the emotional consequences of battle and conquest. Thundering war drums join fist-pumping, chest-thumping riffage as Nuno sings of grand deeds and the consequences thereof. It’s rabble-rousing and cautionary, which is odd but brilliant. The big stuff keeps coming with “Moonlit Requiem,” which is like a prog-power mega-ballad borrowing from Fates Warning albums like No Exit and Perfect Symmetry and the best elements of Tad Morose and Lanfear. This is one of those songs you love immediately, and I’m blown away by the songwriting prowess the band demonstrates so early into their existence. It’s massive at nearly 8 minutes, and they use every second to get you invested and hanging on every note. The chorus is emotive and powerful, and the epic conclusion with Manowar-esque chanting and majestic soloing is stunning.

All praise above notwithstanding, the best song here may be “Whispered Curses, Woe Unleashed,” which is like the perfect fusion of Lance King era Pyramaze, Manowar, and Visigoth.1 You get classic Manowar thundering and galloping, but with an ever-present sense of loss as Nuno tells of the horrific consequences that follow a senseless act. This is epic, trve metal done at a very high level and with a unique twist. Nuno again puts on a vocal clinic, squeezing every ounce of emotion from the listener as the song unspools. This stuff is just next level, and it has something special going on. Ginormous epic “Great Drowning of Men” borrows from Atlantean Kodex, Evergrey, and Iron Maiden as it weaves a massive yarn that may or may not be about pirates. This ain’t no Running Wild booty smacking shore excursion though, folks! This is huge, deadly serious stuff with more myth and fable than you can stuff in your trunk. At 45 minutes, Age of the Void is the ideal length. You get a handful of HUGE songs, but the pacing and track placement prevent the album from feeling overstuffed in that Senjutsu way. The production is big and bold, giving the drums the earth-shaking power this kind of music demands, and the guitars are given real weight and beef.

I loved Nuno’s work with Lanfear, and after not hearing him on anything new for so long, it’s great to find him in top form here. He’s got the perfect voice for prog-power, and now he proves he can handle epic metal just as well. His smooth delivery and ability to project emotion carry these songs to a higher plane. Equally masterful is the guitar work by Achim Rauscher (ex-Lanfear) and Markus Ullrich (Them, ex-Lanfear). They bring a pornicopia of brawny, badass riffs and emotionally stirring solos to the table, traveling from Iced Earth beef to Evergrey sadboi as the material requires and delivering many memorable moments along the way. Special props go to Sascha de Lima Beul for his massive performance on the kit. He channels the spirit of the late great Scott Columbus of Manowar as he pounds the drums into the Earth’s core and makes every song feel vibrant and forceful. The man is a monster.

Age of the Void is the second album in a row that took me out back and kicked my Score Counter. This is an inspired and inspiring mega-dose of epic metal with balls, brains, and stained class. Under Ruins make a huge splash on their opening salvo, and you should hear it ASAP. I mean like today!

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: FHM Records
Websites: facebook.com/underruins | instagram.com/under.ruins
Releases Worldwide: May 2nd, 2025

#2025 #40 #AgeOfTheVoid #EpicHeavyMetal #Evergrey #FatesWarning #FHMRecords #GermanMetal #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #Lanfear #Manowar #Pyramaze #Review #Reviews #TadMorose #Them #UnderRuins

Nasty Savage – Jeopardy Room Review

By Steel Druhm

I did NOT have a brand new Nasty Savage album on my bingo card for 2024, or ever for that matter. I was a big fan in the 80s, finding the belligerent, over-the-top attitude of unhinged frontman/WWF wannabe Nasty Ronnie to be the perfect match for the band’s oddball blend of trad-metal and thrash.1 Their 1985 debut was like a loony hodge-podge of Venom, Manowar, and Mercyful Fate, with the Floridian bruisers trying to settle on the right tone and style. 1987s follow-up Indulgence was a tougher, meaner hombre full of technically precise thrash with proggy accents. 89s Penetration Point took the prog elements and pushed them further to join the wave of bands experimenting with tech-thrash in the late 80s like Watchtower and Toxik. After that the joy ride ended and the band imploded. They reformed to drop a respectable comeback in 2004 and then promptly folded again. An album 20 years later is a big surprise because Nasty Savage never seemed like it was made up of guys destined to live long, healthy lives. Nasty Ronnie was a trailer park psycho living with alligators and the rest of the band was equally sketchy. And yet Jeopardy Room finds Ronnie very much alive and kicking supported by an all-new lineup of unsavory riff-raff.2 What will a Nasty Savage album sound like in the modern age? I was a bit scared to find out, honestly.

After a short intro piece, the title track roars out with a shockingly ageless sound very much in line with their Indulgence era. Fiery caveman thrash is the rotgut of the day with Ronnie grunting and shouting over aggressive riif chaos just like in the olde days. In fact, Ronnie sounds exactly the same, which is crazy. It’s a classic Savage track with the same kind of burly, bullying thrash riffs and concussive force I depended on during gym time in my angry teens. “Brain Washer” is a big dose of low-brow speed that pays big, dumb dividends with Ronnie hysterically shouting “Brainwasher, Brainwasher!!” like an inmate at Arkham Asylum. It also weaves proggy ideas through the thuggish brutality in a way where you don’t even notice them at first. “Witches Sabbath” is a throwback to the debut where they dabbled in Mercyful Fate and King Diamond influences, going for a moody, mysterious atmosphere complete with horror movie keyboards. It’s cheesy and ham-fisted but somehow ends up working and those riffs are pure Sherman/Denner.

Jeopardy Room is a classic Savage album in that it tries to represent all the stages of their too-short career. You get the trad and thrash and prog, but thrashers dominate the day. “Blood Syndicate” hits especially hard toward the album’s conclusion as furious, weighty riffs run wild and Ronnie roars like an enraged silverback as a woman reaches ever closer to climax in the background for whatever reason. Classic Savage. Sure, not every track hits the mark. “Schizoid Platform” tries to balance hog-defiling speed and prog with awkward results, and “Operation Annihilate” is rudimentary idiocy but still fairly entertaining. The overall balance favors the nasty, as most tracks are good with a few rising higher. It’s a motley collection of metal zingers by a real motley crew of ne’er-do-wells and it’s surprisingly spry and energized.

The big surprise here is Mr. Nasty himself. Ronnie sounds like he’s been in cryofreeze since the mid-90s. His husky baritone bellows are still stuffed full of toxic masculinity and goonism and he’s highly effective. He foregoes the King Diamond-esque high-pitched falsettos he employed in the past but I don’t miss them. He’s still a massive presence behind the mic and he can probably still toss a few wimps ass-over-teakettle into the rotpit. New guitarist Dave Orman does an excellent job mimicking the axe styles of original members Ben Meyer and David Austin, which is no easy feat as they always had a very distinct and usual approach. His riffs are thick, razor-sharp, and oppressive with a slightly proggy flare often present even in the most thrash-tastical cuts. He’s slick as shit without departing from the mission statement of kicking poser ass. The whole band is tight and polished, making Olde Man Ronnie sound like an angry 20-something again. Kudos.

I didn’t expect much from Jeopardy Room, but it’s a fun and forceful throwback to the band’s early days of drunken excess and alligator humping. It reeks of 1987, warm beer, and moist BO, which means it smells like Nasty Savage sounds. Give this a loud, angry spin and rock the double-wide. After that, go discover or re-discover their classics and get swole.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: FHM Records
Websites: nastysavage.com | instagram.com/nastysavageband
Releases Worldwide: October 11th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AmericanMetal #FHMRecords #HeavyMetal #JeopardyRoom #NastySavage #Oct24 #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal