‘Dungeon Punk’ sounds exactly like the appropriate soundtrack to 2026, and exactly like the sort of thing I’d quite like to put in my ears this week.
Philadelphia’s Poison Ruin dropped their second full length release earlier this month. Marking a significant transition from the raw, lo-fi synth aesthetic of their first album 2023’s ‘Harvest’, ‘Hymns from the Hills’ builds upon an almost skeletal framework of skittering guitars, sonorous vocals and graveyard bass lines.
I was transported back to the very early 80’s and the first wave of post punk, I was struck by the stylistic similarities to The Dammed and Stiff Little Fingers – somewhat appropriately as we sit once again in the midst of an oil crisis, beneath the spectre of nuclear obliteration. I almost feel young again!
Opener proper ‘Lily of the Valley’ sets out the bands stall from the off. Hook filled and synth laced, it’s the guitar work that stands out. The production is sparse, again I come back to the word skeletal but certainly not lacking in atmosphere or depth.
Lead single ‘Eidolon’ builds into a chant laden slab of filth with a wilful mispronunciation that grabs the attention. Catchier than dysentery.
‘Sleeping Giant (Interlude)’ brings a funereal doom element to the forefront and sets the tone for the latter third of the record.
I particularly enjoyed the way this album seemed to build from austere beginnings, constantly growing and evolving before bursting into metallic bloom and resolving with the blast beat onslaught of closer ‘The Standoff’.
Dungeon Punk indeed. Dark, grimy and drenched in the folklore of the forest.
Best served with: Potassium Iodide.
Poison Ruin – Hymns From The Hills is out now on Relapse Records
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