Album Review: Dungeon – Into The Ruins [EP]

After a five-year wait, the misfits of London’s DUNGEON return with their 2nd EP, Into The Ruins.

‘Nagasaki Sunrise’ takes a bit too much time on the rev-up, but once the foursome gets going, stratospheric six-six-sick-string strafing, rocket-propelled rhythms and harsh harangues are not only what, but pretty much all that’s on offer. D’ ya like speed metal? Do you like speed metal?! Vocalist/guitarist Luke Drew’s snarl is surely more of the Teutonic school, bits of early Denis Bélanger, maybe, but less unhinged and into the impressive ‘Put Them In Their Graves’ we go.

Guitar harmonies are sideswiped by even faster bass/drum attack, and memorable from the start, clearly this is DUNGEON’s comfort zone, built for our discomfort, and – while I’m reminded of the mid-late ‘80s thrash/speed/black hybrid of Italy’s BULLDOZER in the unbridled fanaticism, there are slivers of MERCYFUL FATE, chunks of Fenriz’s record collection, and a good dose of workmanlike d-beat to be found throughout this 21-minute furor.

‘Beneath The Church’ begins, pacing itself, very much the focal point of Into The Ruins, and time is given to all the aforementioned aspects. I’d like to say these varied influences meld, flow together nicely…congeal, if you will. What they really do, though, is batter one another in the face, gloriously and some-damn-how successfully to create something both respectful of the past and (could it be?) of its own creation.

Finishing up with ‘Ruins’, early EXODUS and DARKNESS’ Death Squad getting a nod. Into The Ruins manages to breathe life into a genre in desperate need of such, yet without a shred of simpering “it was better back then” nostalgia.
Review By: Lord Randall

DUNGEON
Into The Ruins [EP]
Dying Victims Productions