adg211288 Having previously released the EP Devices (2015) off their own back, US metallers Fell Ruin have joined forces with I, Voidhanger Records for the release of their debut full-length album, To the Concrete Drifts (2017).

The band have a sound that takes elements from both black metal and doom metal. From the former we get a semi-raw sound and the traditional harsh vocal style and from doom, a tendency towards slow, heavy riffs, but the band also display shifts towards faster playing, all in the space of one song. To the Concrete Drifts features five tracks though the first, Respire, is an intro making The Lucid Shell the first full song. It's a good choice to get a feel for what Fell Ruin are all about, featuring all the above elements and more. The riffs of guitarist Rob Radtke certainly aren't limited to just the two core styles that make up Fell Ruin's music. There's some added complexity in some of the faster parts that pushes the usual boundaries of black and doom metal, and even the odd thrashy bit. The group also use the odd softer section to add to their doom atmospheres, such as the one in The Lucid Shell where Rob Radtke's guitar takes on a minimal role but Jeff McMullen's bass provides a heavy, menacing thunder.

Apart from middle track Spy Fiction Folds in Ready Streets which leans more heavily on the group's black metal side, To the Concrete Drifts features an even blend of black and doom metal elements so the appeal to fans of both genres should be high. The quality is consistent but my impression is that the band never top The Lucid Shell in being definitive for their style, though I do also feel that the album would have benefited from having a little more material rather than clocking in just after thirty-seven minutes in order to achieve a more complete feeling. It does enough though to be a solid debut album for Fell Ruin and it leaves me looking forward to hearing more from them.