Arise And Ruin
The Final Dawn
4.5/5

Who It’s For: Those who need a motivational soundtrack to help them climb a mountain while dragging lead weights blindfolded
Sounds Like: At The Gates, Blood Has Been Shed, Rise Over Run

It’s the end of the world. Things are at their bleakest. All you can hear is the true sound of the end of times. Whoever thought the final dawn would have sounded like this? Arise And Ruin did. They have translated pure energy and ferocity into audio Armageddon, The Final Dawn, their Victory Records debut.

The Final Dawn once again has the Guelph, ON natives heading down to Boston, MA, and the studio of Unearth guitarist Ken Susi. The result is the best sound the band has come up with to date. Huge guitars toting razor sharp, to the point riffs, this albums pulls no punches and the beatdown is beautiful pain. It looks as if thrash metal is the order of the day this time around with AAR’s material speeding up quite significantly overall (see “Unbound”) showing that they are not just a one trick metalcore pony. Trends aside, Arise And Ruin still have some of the heaviest breakdowns this side of the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal and its dropping-like-flies inhabitants; they just don’t rely on them. Guitar thickness provided by Brent Munger and Greg Richmond is pretty damn serious. The vocal prowess of Ryan Bauchman is another true highlight of the album, as his delivery is nothing short of being tough without being over the top and flaky.

A matured heavy sound is what you’ll find on The Final Dawn. With a very full sound, nothing is overbearing and everything has its place. This is a great sounding record with plenty of catchy ultra-heavy parts ready to set the mosh pit ablaze. If anything isn’t great about the disc, it’s that it’s too short. When it ends your adrenaline is pumping so fast, you’re ready to run through brick walls. I suppose you could just turn it on again, have 9-1-1 set on speed dial, and just go for it...nevermind. Good luck with that kids. Oh and the rest of you metal bands better step up your game as The Final Dawn has raised the bar considerably. Warning: year-end lists, here comes Arise And Ruin at full speed!

Track Listing:

1. Bound By Blood
2. The Final Dawn
3. End Of The Road
4. To The Grind
5. Amidst Devils
6. Unbound
7. Always The Same
8. Pale Horse
9. In Life
10. Fear Itself

-Michael Kopko