Here’s a prime slice of Finnish death metal for you all out there. Lie In Ruins have been active since about 2002, but released their first full length album back in 2009, with this being their third full record. I haven’t personally come across them before, but was pretty much excited to listen to it once I had seen the wonderfully evocative cover art (yes, I am that old that I am still swayed by good album art!). Finland is of course the country where roughly 78% of the population seems to be in a metal band, and so it’s always of interest to see what we are going to get.

The first thing off the bat is that Lie In Ruins aren’t the kind of band to ponce about wearing plastic Viking hats, fool around with bagpipes or get their hey-nonny-nonnies out for the lads. No, this is nothing to do with folk metal, and everything to do with down and dirty depressive, dark death metal. Think cavernous, gloomy atmospheres. Think thick, grimy sounding riffage. Think old school.

“Floating in Timeless Streams” is pretty much an out and out death metal album, with some very clear nods to the old school. This isn’t some polished melodic exercise in twin axe virtuosity; this is thick, bludgeoning slabs of mid-tempo death metal and underpinnings of dexterous blasting drum work. You’d be tempted at this point perhaps to point towards the old school of Scandinavian metal, but in reality this has more to do with the likes of England’s Vallenfyre than it does with the likes of Grave or Dismember. Overall, there’s a tone and atmosphere that’s built up that’s more than just some bottom end groove and a distortion pedal. There’s a palpable air of dread, and isn’t that what death metal should be like? Horror films for the ears?

In fact, the whole thing has a rather filmic quality. In between stormers like the martial “(Becoming) One With The Aether”, there are a couple of interludes between the ten tracks here, which almost serve to punctuate the tracks to let the listener catch their breath. In terms of the song-writing, this is a pretty strong offering, with a couple of real stand out moments. Both the fiercely aggressive aforementioned “…Aether” and charmingly (if accurately) named “Suffocating Darkness” are minor classics, and have lingered long in my ears. Production wise, this manages to keep that precarious balance between letting the lunacy of the music exist without ever collapsing into an indecipherable mess, while also allowing enough of the gravel and detritus in the sound to remain, bringing that filth to your ears.

I really found this to be a good listen – somehow perfect for the nights closing in, and the general state of anxiety and claustrophobia that’s all pervasive at the moment. Just don’t go putting it on at your Christmas party this year (if, that is, any of us can have one anyway).

(7.5/10 Chris Davison)

https://www.facebook.com/lieinruins

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/floating-in-timeless-streams