My Ruin have carved themselves a reputation for street level in-your-face bad-assedness, albeit only amongst those that look for their metal and mayhem outside the confines of big record label business. The ultimate do-it-yourself outfit led by vocalist/wordsmith Tairrie B. Murphy and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Mick Murphy – the wife and husband team par excellence – My Ruin have slugged it out for the last several years as independent artists (even with a record deal), turning in some positively brash and pointedly aggressive work for the masses to swallow.
The Sacred Mood follows on the heels of A Southern Revelation’s ultra-violence, making the descent into the Murphy maelstrom somewhat slower this time out. ‘Monolith Of Wrath’ kicks things off with pulse, pound and Tairrie B.’s lush spoken word delivery, turning to My Ruin’s familiar up-tempo punk attitude for ‘Moriendo Renascor’ before giving the expected beating in ‘God Is A Girl With A Butcher Knife’, perhaps THE song to feature everything My Ruin has to offer. From there it’s a journey through all facets of the band’s personality, Mick Murphy churning out Tony Iommi / Zakk Wylde-flavoured metal or a welcome rock crunch (‘Hour Of The Wolf’, ‘Heretic Dreams’) depending on the mood set by Tairrie B.’s vocals. And the lady is all about her non-tweaked all natural scream (‘God Is A Girl…’, ‘Harsh Light Of Day’) when she’s not in her spoken word spotlight (‘Honey Of The Human Soul’).
It’s worth noting that The Sacred Mood goes off without a single profane word (!!!) crossing her lips.
Extra points for the doom and dark of ‘Insomniac Moon’, which will have Vampire trendies creaming themselves with glee should they ever get wind of the track. Ditto for the cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Trouble’ that brings The Sacred Mood to a close; the rock-heavy ballsiest cover since Megadeth dared to do up Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, and a great intro to the classics for an open-minded younger generation.
Evil as can be, Ms. B… no doubt about it.
The tracklist is as follows:
‘Monolith Of Wrath’
‘Moriendo Renascor’
‘God Is A Girl With A Butcher Knife’
‘Heretic Dreams’
‘Honey Of The Human Soul’
‘Insomniac Moon’
‘Hour Of The Wolf’
‘Del Riche’
‘Harsh Light Of Day’
‘Trouble’
Check out a trailer for The Sacred Mood here.
