Review by Shannon Shumaker
Rotting Out’s new album, Ronin is unrelenting, punishing and just what fans have been waiting for since the bands 2013 release, Wrong Way. With only two songs on Ronin clocking in at over three minutes in length (the final track, “Boy” is the longest song on the album, hitting the five minute mark) the album moves fast, but thankfully, it’s jam packed with ten diverse, aggressive and emotionally driven songs.
Opening track “Vessel” is also the shortest song on the album, serving as the perfect intro, while second track, “Last Man Standing” is a soon to be fan-favorite, complete with sing-along ready gang vocals and a catchy as hell chorus. Then comes the rage filled, “Stones,” which hits hard with lines like, “Fuck you / And fuck your friends too” alongside blink and you miss it time changes and spectacular guitar work.
There’s something special about each song on Ronin, but stand out tracks include the personal, slower (by Rotting Out’s standards) track, “Prisoner” and “Unforgiven,” which easily hosts some of the strongest guitar work and bass work alongside Walter Delgado’s best vocal performance on the album. The final two songs make for one hell of a finale as well, with “Visceral” carried by powerful bass and drums while the epic final track, “Boy” hosts some of the most powerful and vulnerable lyricism on the album.
Ronin is the comeback release that all Rotting Out fans have been waiting for, and it was well worth the wait. The songwriting on this album is smart as hell – sonically, it’s aggressive, fast paced and unrelenting and lyrically, it’s a vulnerable release that explores isolation, guilt, anger and more. Rotting Out feels like a well-oiled machine, making it hard to believe that it has been seven years since the band last released new music. Add absolutely spectacular production on top of it, and you have yourself one of the best hardcore albums of this decade.
LISTEN TO: “Stones” and “Unforgiven”
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