If It's Too Loud...

Poison Ruin have released one of the most intriguing punk/metal albums of the year with Hymns from the Hills. Lots of bands blur the lines between punk and metal, but no one does it quite like them. Their tour has brought them to a few venues around New England, and considering how much I love The Stone Church in Brattleboro, VT but rarely get there, that was the date I chose to check out. Poison Ruin are an absolute beast live. It's loud, it's heavy, and it's great. Just pure, no nonsense punk mixed with metal. They play shred heavy rock without being overly showy. What's truly great about Poison Ruin's music, and in turn their live show, is how diverse their sound can be. Some songs are more punk, some are more metal, and some had an undeniable groove that leaned into funk. This is the kind of band that attracts hipsters in ironic mullets and metalheads in unironic mullets. And both crowds make complete sense at a Poison Ruin show, and both had a great time. It wa...

Photo by Kat Bean Philadelphia's Poison Ruin have a new song out that's begging to be a punk anthem. What's interesting about "Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)" is that the new song is just about as straightforward as a punk song as you can get, but they've added just the slightest bit of psychedelia to the song. It's a fast and driving song that would make the Ramones proud with it's two and a half minute length. It's bouncy and heavy with hooks that draw you in, but there's just something a little trippy going on in the guitar. It's buzzy, but in a psychedelic way. Poison Ruin have quickly become one of our favorite current punk bands for little changes like this that help keep the genre from becoming stale. You can watch the video for "Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)" below. Hymns from the Hills is due out April 3 on Relapse Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Poison Ruin, check out the band's website . Upcoming...

Photo by Kat Bean Philadelphia punk group Poison Ruin just released the title track from their upcoming album, and you're gonna want to check this one out ASAP. While last month's "Eidolon" combined punk and metal, "Hymn from the Hills" is more of a straight up punk song... relatively speaking. Poison Ruin have their own take on the genre, and while it's undisputably punk, it doesn't exactly sound like what you imagine when you think of punk. The song is fast, but has this interesting edge that's both noise rock and New Wave. There's also an earthy feel to the song that makes me think of folk punk even though "Hymn from the Hills" is decidedly not folk punk. In a genre that can be repetitive over the last fifty or so years, it's great to see a band like Poison Ruin chart their own way. Mac Kennedy (frontman, lyricist, and guitarist) says of his band's latest single: "'Hymn from the Hills'  is about living on the...

Photo by Kat Bean Philadelphia's Poison Ruin have a new single out, and this one is huge. "Eidolon" is a monster of a song that is both punk and metal. The song might lean a little more into punk than metal, but it's still perfect for headbanging. It's a four minute track that barrels over and through the listener by pure force. Plus, the song has some of the best shredding out there today. It's a mixture of thrash and doom that's going to make you enjoy the song whether you want to or not. "Eidolon" is one of the most exciting songs I've heard in the punk/metal genre for quite some time, and if songs about bleak medieval imagery is your thing, welcome to the Poison Ruin fanclub. Lyricist/guitarist Mac Kennedy says of his band's latest single: “‘Eidolon’ is about being stuck in a broken reality, a cog in a fate-machine doomed to play out the same cursed loop until it fully breaks down. The ones who had the power to affect change have aban...