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Poison Ruin have announced a new album, Hymns from the Hills, arriving April 3rd via Relapse Records. The Philly punk-metallers also offered up the single “Eidolon.”
Setting the tone with a doom metal riff, the band finds its driving groove about a minute in, conjuring Motörhead vibes via messy guitar tones and the barked vocals of Mac Kennedy. The mid-tempo return of the intro riff carries a big payoff before the band rides into the sunset with some classic rock soloing and chorus chants of “Eidolon!”
As for the lyrics, Kennedy said the song “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 abandoned the scene,” he reflected in the band’s press release. “Their phantoms loom down in quiet disapproval of the disaster that slowly plays out beneath— Grim reminders of what could have, but will not be.”
Once again, Poison Ruin use Medieval imagery as a focusing lens on bleak modern reality, carrying on the aesthetic that has made them the knights-errant of modern punk. However, Kennedy emphasized that he doesn’t necessarily want the band’s fantasy figures and symbolism to be read as historically accurate.
“I’m not very interested in conveying the historical facts of medieval culture,” he continued. “If we are to make sense of the present, we need to employ a more mythic mode of language and symbol to reach beyond the spiritual malaise that envelopes us. A mythic truth resonates within any time, but its echoes call from outside of time. Medieval and fantasy imagery are simply effective personal starting points for tapping into that mode of communication.”
Hymns from the Hills, much like previous Poison Ruin records, was self-recorded without the use of professional studio equipment — albeit in a new private practice space. It was mixed by Jonah Falco (Fucked Up, Career Suicide) and mastered by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Trapped Under Ice, Cavalera).
Pre-order the album via Relapse Records, and stream the performance clip for “Eidolon” below.
Hymns from the Hills Artwork:
Hymns from the Hills Tracklist:
01. Intro
02. Lily Of the Valley
03. Hymn from the Hills
04. Eidolon
05. Howls From the Citadel
06. Pilgrimage
07. Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)
08. Turn To Dust
09. Puzzle Box
10. Serpent’s Curse
11. Sleeping Giant (Interlude)
12. Crescent Sun
13. The Standoff
English (US) · 