HYDEROMASTGRONINGEM

Ruins is not prog to any degree I'd consider, but this CD is great music wherever it may fall. This is one of the most uniquely commanding CDs I have. 2 guys - bass and drums, both do the vocals - have created such a bizzare soundscape it's hard to describe. First off, the language on the album is one that they created. A song or two use English to a degree, but the rest is a hypnotically rhythmic language that works more as additional instrumentation than it is just a vocal. Everything works together in such a way that one alone cannot be focused on any more than another. This is a wonderful melding of instruments to create one solid sound. Car-crash time signature stop/starts are the key in most of the songs. Imagine a rubber ball that can't stop bouncing that's randomly studded with nails, brads, spikes and tacks let loose in a room made of steel. Energy explodes from every note and chant and scream and squeal. There's a definite hardcore foundation but a higher sense of composition coming from something besides just aggression. I've heard Ruins other albums and I really haven't been impressed in the way I still am with 'Hyderomastgroningem.' I bought this on a whim and at first I was a little unreceptive to the concept, but after a few spins under the laser I really started enjoying the grooves and rhythms of it. It's a perfect long distance night-drive album. If you're adventurous and haven't become a music snob bent on telling the world that prog started and ended with YES you might just enjoy this.

Japan's Ruins are pretty much ultra-zeuhl, meaning they take the most bashy, brutal aspects of the Magma- created subgenre and whack you over the head with 'em for about an hour per album. This means crushingly overdriven distorted bass (like that in Magma's De Futura) at the forefront and clattery drums whishing about in the background. Add nonsensical, maniacal shrill vocals wailing over the top and you have a Ruins album. The playing is certainly impressive and it can be a visceral experience, but it can be a bit much for the ininitiated. I've only heard two Ruins albums, but it seems like this is a typical release. Anyone who likes aggressive music, from zeuhl to death metal, will certainly get a lot out of this album, which I believe is considered by many to be the duo's classic release. I pull it out once in a while to punish myself. Guapo is a more melodic, laid back version of the same concept +keys, so they might be a better place to start for the modern zeuhl-curious.

Dynamic duo strikes again!

Creating a style of music that can be almost classified as far as post-punk or heavy thrash metal, drummer Tatsuya Yoshida and his assistant of the album (it happens to be Ryuichi Masuda on this album) are fast transforming Ruins into a widely styled musical machine. Virtually everything can be heard on this album, and more.

There are 4 really short songs (around 30 seconds) that show their purpose as this band's really whacked out side. The first, "0'33", is just high-pitched shrieking and the second, "Zurna Taksim", is a bass-driven chant that pounds your eardrums back into your head. the third and fourth short tracks showcase the band's ability to think outside the box, best exampled by the radio effects used in "Comme La Radio". Don't get me wrong, the shorter songs are great vocal experiments but the longer tracks are the glue that holds the album together. The second song on the album which clocks in at over 9 minutes, "Brixon Varromiks", is just a snare-drum pounding rhythmic chant that seems to go on for ages, but you don't care how long it runs while you're listening to it because you are too caught up in the action. "Del Fanci Kant", at over 7 minutes, is another great longer song that features the same pounding drum rhythms.

Besides these songs of the short and long, there are some other amazing gems found spread throughout this album. My personal favorite on the album is the frantic and frenzied "Memories of Zworrisdeh", with its high-pitched vocal shakes and bass scales. The title track and the two English titled tracks, "Speed Ball" and "Ordinary People In Idaho" are not ones to miss either.

Although there are 4 songs under 1 minute long, there really is no filler on this album at all. Every song may not be in a key order, but the songs do play off of one another to create all of the vocal and drum experiments that Yoshida was attempting here. I would highly recommend this album to punk fans who want a break from the ordinary, and metal fans who think they have heard it all, any fans of Magma or Weidoje, or just anybody in general that wants to put their ears up to the test.

I would say something like 4.3 stars, rounded down.

First hearing the Album it reminded me of Melt-Banana (who came after them anyway) and Limited Express (has gone?). It has a noise rock/ avant garde feel along with its Zeuhl. Thats probably why i like this album so much. The song times are perfect, short and sweet(dare i say). My favorite tracks on these are Comme la Radio where they use radio clips and tracks. Its awesome and my other favorite is Speed Ball. Just an all around good track. The Ruins are very far out in the Zeuhl department and thats probably why some people who are into the Japanese thrash would dig them so much. 4 stars.

Hyderomastgroningem is much more in the vein of Jazz Fusion than some of Ruins' more ambient records. The results are both mixed, and varied, as one would expect from a 20 track album. Some tracks are excellent (Brixon Varromiks, Del Fanci Kant, Speed Ball), whereas others are best placed in the 'weird' category, and don't seem to deserve more than a couple of listens, (0'33', Comme a la radio) but when the dissonance is put aside in favour of more conventional jazz, (Pig brag crack, Zurna taksim) Ruins are never less than successful. As there is a suffusion of genuine brilliance throughout the longer pieces, Ruins really do deserve the attention of any fan of more technical prog.

As much as I like some weird music out there, Hyderomastgroningem is one pretty weird album. Although some would probably say that the fact that I can spell the album's name correctly without looking it up is pretty weird too.

Anyone who has heard any work from Yoshida Tatsuya knows to except highly challenging music that is anything but easy to digest. Of course, that also means incredibly complex drumming (I sometimes listen to his work and wonder how many arms he actually has or if he's just a cyborg). With Ruins, you can also include high-quality bass work, although half the time you may sit there wondering if you're actually listening to bass or not. Ah, the wonders of MIDI technology. On Prrifth for example, it honestly sounds like bass and electric guitar are dueling each other with a few ridiculous riffs that change back and forth at lightning-fast speeds. I think it's safe to say that Ryuichi Masuda is a mastermind in terms of modern-day bassists. Although I would expect nothing less from someone selected to be in a Yoshida project.

While this music is highly energetic and almost borders at times on an energy felt in hardcore punk or extreme metal, it also serves as one of the weaknesses of the album too. While Hyderomastgroningem (I swear one of these days I'm going to misspell it) would certainly help to kick a caffeine addiction, it lacks in variety. Each of the tracks is for the most part as zany and off-the-wall as possible. There aren't much in terms of mellow, laid-back jams, a few of which I think would certainly have improved the quality of the music. The second and lesser issue I have is that all of the 4 short interlude tracks are for the most part just shouting and noise effects. I know I'm probably being picky here, but they really could have been cut from the album in my opinion.

Overall though, this album tickles my funny bone in a weird way. And it's certainly much more enjoyable for me than Tzomborgha. Of the 4 Ruins albums I have to date, this is certainly the weirdest, and easily the noisiest of the 4 I have. Some of the noise parts have become more and more grating over time though, and I really can't give this any higher than a 3. Steer clear unless you already enjoy a few other Ruins albums.

What is this?

I still really don't know after quite a bit of plunking away at it. Heck, I can't even get the title straight 5 times out of ten. But you know what, that doesn't take away from the uniqueness of this album. Now, I said ''unique'' which does not always imply ''good'' as the music here is of an insanely acquired taste.

HYDEROMASTGRONINGEM is somewhat too random. From what I can understand, the album likes to play with distorted bass riffs and complex drum patterns (with Tatsuya Yoshida on the drum stool, I didn't expect less) that seem to come flat out of nowhere. (Keep in mind that a bassist and drummer is all that Ruins has in the band.) Couple that with all of the ''nonsense'' lyrics and this is one crazy album.

There are simply too many tracks here, some lasting a mere half-minute. More likely than not, the humourous aura of the album will grab the listener's attention moreso than the complexity or instrumentation or the songs themselves. This is not an everyday listen, but get it so that on those days when Murphy tries enforce his law on you, you can listen to ''Speed Ball'' or ''Memories of Zworrisdeh'' for a quick pickup.

A lot of the time in the wide world of music, an album's title doesn't tell you all that much about what kind of music to expect when you listen to it. On occasion, though, a title can tell you more than you would think. Hyderomastgroningem is one of those titles. The word is bizarre and annoying to spell until you finally see it/spell it enough. The same goes with the music on the album. Until you've listened to it several times, it's going to seem like one or more of the following: alien, bizarre, crazy, chaotic, complex, disturbed, excessively strange...you get the idea. After you've listened to it several times, assuming you are intrigued enough by the first one or two listens to charge on forward, the album's charm really starts to bring itself out. It's still all of those things I mentioned earlier, and more, but that's the fun of it. Yoshida and Masuda have created one crazy monster of an album here. What they do with drums, bass, and nonsense vocals (and radio on a track or two) is incredible. Things get off to a thundering start with the title track, and they don't let you go for the full 67 minutes of the album. It is a big chunk of material if you don't like hyper avant-Zeuhl punk metal, that's for sure. I happen to love hyper avant-Zeuhl punk metal, though. This album, along with the other Ruins albums I have, has been getting regular play, bi-weekly even. It's like another much-needed caffeine boost in my day, and despite what some listeners will say, it's more healthy than energy drinks. Obviously some tracks are better than others, as is the case with most albums. I love Pig Brag Crack, Prrifth, Memories of Zworrisdeh, Stone Eater, and Del Fanci Kant most of all, with the epic (for Ruins) Brixon Varromiks not far behind.

Two important thoughts about the album: First, both Yoshida and Masuda are robots from the future sent here to play amazing, hyper complex and challenging music for us to love and wish we could play. Secondly, while this album is not for all listeners for sure, I think it can still be considered a masterpiece. I'm going to go with my gut feeling on this one and award it with the full 5 star rating. It takes everything I love about their earlier material (for example, the stuff on Stonehenge) and adds to it/speeds it up/throws it all in a blender to see what fun will come out.

Japan's answer to the question "What does it sound like if you throw a three-tier toolbox down a steep hill?" continue their chaotic work, but what's most interesting about this album is there is quite a lot of structure to the chaos if you pick it apart enough. The opening title track hints at it with an avant-garde instrumental, but then you forget about it immediately with Brixon Varromiks essentially just the duo attempting to destroy their respective instruments through over-use accompanied by some random shrieking and noises for a couple of minutes. It breaks into the calmer (relatively speaking) and menacing side of Ruins' offerings, again with some nonsensical vocals, but again more avant-garde than just noise and appreciatively complex as the tempo rises and falls. There's actually passages of this which make me think they've been asked to do Dream Theater's Dance of Eternity, but Zeuhl. Bold call probably. It's a grower, without the first two minutes I might even go as far as saying I liked it. After a 33 second track of guitar and wailing, we're then treated to two minutes of guitar and wailing with added drums and growling in Economic Mond Possa. Pig Brag Crak is another of the semi-accessible avant-garde offerings, while if you want a track bouncing between death metal growling and high pitched wailing, Prrifth is for you. Some pretty nifty guitar at the end of that tracks. For most of the rest of the short tracks I'd be copy and pasting something from the above mix of styles. Instead I'll just pick out two tracks which are at the more accessible end of things (again, relatively speaking) with some sections of rhythm or at least avant-garde style rather than utter chaos. Gravestone is probably the pick of the bunch and shows the pair have musical talent rather than just smashing a room to bits and calling it music. Stone Eater also not bad. It does have the feel of something that would grow on me with repeat listens, but I can't bring myself to do that just yet!