Ominous Ruin returns with Requiem, a deeply personal and intense follow-up to Amidst Voices that Echo in Stone. Exploring chaos, turmoil, and raw emotion, the album pushes their technical death metal to new extremes.
1. Your
new album Requiem is described as a continuation of Amidst
Voices that Echo in Stone but also deeply personal, shaped by dark
times in the band’s lives. Can you elaborate on the emotional and thematic
journey behind this record?
As with any
band, there's a lot of internal issues that arise, even amongst the best of
friendships. We were no stranger to that, and each member simultaneously had
some bad personal situations arise that also contributed to the stress that
weighed on this project. All of which led to us taking an inevitable break, and
eventually deciding to part ways with our former vocalist.
Our
guitarist, Alex, mainly composes the song structures, and we feel that all the
songs on this album reflect the chaotic and dizzying state that our lives have
been in over the past few years. The song structures and lyrical themes tie
together well, as they both sort of depict our torturous reality/alter-reality
in many ways, also in relation to all of our
psychological/physical/physiological well-being.
2. The
album starts with a direct continuation from your last release, leading into
“Seeds of Entropy.” How does this track set the tone for Requiem,
and what inspired its explosive nature?
Seeds of
Entropy was written around the time our first album Amidst Voices came out
actually, so it utilizes a few of the same chords/scales and motifs that Alex
was really into at the time, only this time, Alex wanted to push the speeds and
intensity further. Also, Ominous Ruin's first EP, Exiled, had songs that
reached speeds faster than on the first LP, and Alex wanted to make sure
Requiem was faster, more intense than the previous releases to
again, portray the internal turmoil of our lives over the past few
years. Seeds of Entropy is the perfect way to set the tone for the album,
coming in at 270bpm with fast and intricate riffing and drumming, and intense
and powerful vocals. Seeds of Entropy is part one of a two part endeavor, the
second part being "Eternal" is even more intense!
3. With Requiem,
there seems to be an even greater balance between technicality and atmosphere.
How did you approach songwriting to maintain that intensity while also
incorporating emotional depth?
I (Alex)
think that my writing style is not the most technical, especially when compared
to other incredible tech-death bands like Archspire or Ophidian I for example.
It's super important to me to prioritize good song writing/structure over
technical ability. The technical aspect is obviously a part of the process, but
not my main focal point. I think this whole album's intensity and
emotional depth is truly a reflection of the struggle and journey I/we
have been on. I also try to leave space (though it may not feel like it
sometimes) for other instruments and leads as much as possible. I usually
get my "best" material (or material that I'm happiest with at least)
when I'm in a heightened state of emotion, so I really tried to prioritize and
capitalize on the chaos we've been through, embraced the really shitty
situations we've been put in by sitting down and just playing guitar, writing
or recording anything that I might come up with.
I've been
playing guitar for 24 years now, and over the years I've kind of developed an
ear for what I like vs what I don't, but I usually just try to throw techniques
or patterns out the window and just let myself emote, and when I hear things I
like, try to capture them instantly, and those spawn other ideas that sometimes
come too quick to capture haha. I think many people focus too much on being too
technical or sounding too much like other bands, and by
writing/mixing/mastering our material, I have the ultimate creative freedom to
craft our sound. I think you'll hear even more of that defined
on the next Ominous Ruin album after Requiem.
4. Crystal
Rose’s vocal performance brings a new dimension to your sound. What was the
creative process like working with her, and how did her approach influence the
album’s overall feel?
Crystal
previously provided guest vocals on the "Amidst Voices that Echo in
Stone" album, specifically the track "Deception". This gave us a
chance to really understand each other's creative styles. We realize this is
her first debut with a band and we're so proud of her. We think Crystal's
commanding presence, guttural growl that could shake the foundation of any
venue, and ability to shift seamlessly between immense lows and ferocious
screams really adds to our complex tapestry.
5. The
production on Requiem is both pristine and punishing, allowing
every instrument to breathe. As the producer, Alex, what was your vision for
the sound of the album, and what challenges did you face during the recording
and mixing process?
I mean you
nailed it, I wanted it to be clear, concise, dark, and fucking intense.
Harley's drums needed to be heavy, yet still real sounding (I hate when drums
are too sampled, drum sampling can be done tastefully). The guitars needed to
be my tone, I don't need anyone to reamp my guitars. I just
fear that it can lose the clarity and note value that I'm striving for,
and there's definitely still room for improvement there, it's not a
perfect guitar tone in that I'm still trying to get some additional grit
and warmth out of it. The bass needs to be audible as much as possible because
Mitch is an incredible bass player who writes some incredible bass lines that I
never could, and really fills in a ton of space that I wouldn't have even
thought of. And of course the vocals needed to be super impactful, I really
wanted to showcase just how naturally good Crystal is - not to take away from
how ridiculously hard she works, she's a dang work-horse!! For Crystal's first
band/album, the sky is seemingly the limit, and my goal for our next record is
to really showcase that talent, I truly believe she'll be known as one of the
best vocalists in the scene.
The
challenges however, were seemingly endless. Of note - we had many issues
recording with our previous vocalist, which ultimately led to our parting ways
and giving the opportunity to Crystal, which I think we can all say we're super
happy with this direction and wish our previous vocalist the best, but
this album took roughly an extra year and a half because of the situation.
We ended up trying to record the vocals as quickly as possible to try and get
the album out in 2024, and ultimately it got pushed into 2025 as other bands on
Willowtip happened to finish their albums first. In hindsight, I think we all
feel like there's room for improvements on Requiem because we rushed the
process. That's the last time that'll happen, everyone in Ominous now is very
self motivated and we all have a great work ethic, which just wasn't the case
in years past.
6. Ominous
Ruin is known for its intricate compositions. Can you walk us through a
particularly complex or challenging song on Requiem and the
technical aspects behind it?
Eternal and
Architects of Undoing are probably the most intense compositionally. Those
songs both have riffs that change ever so slightly throughout the song, and
some riffs alternate between position IE Riff A followed by Riff B, then on the
second repeat Riff B followed by Riff A, if that makes sense? They also both
have some really off-time segments that are a nightmare to follow, like in
Eternal, the bright/dissonant part after the middle clean section, the timing
is so hard, we have such a weird click track behind it haha. The same can be
said in Architects, there are many parts that change to weird time signatures.
But the goal was to make sure the listener doesn't actually get confused by
those oddities, hopefully it feels fluid and seamless!
7. Lyrically,
the album explores themes of the human psyche, time, and oblivion. Adam Rosado
crafted the lyrics—how did his concepts align with the music, and were there
any specific inspirations behind the themes?
Requiem is
at its core, a continuation of our first release, Amidst Voices that Echo in
Stone. The chaotic riffs, intense vocals, and rapid-fire drums create an
atmosphere of overwhelming force, mirroring the themes of oblivion and the
disintegration of the human psyche. The lyrical concepts help create a
cohesive musical journey in that they are just as chaotic and dense as the
music itself.
8. You’ve
worked with notable artists like Pär Olofsson for the artwork and Alejandro
Morales for the emblem logo. How important is the visual aesthetic in
representing the themes and atmosphere of Requiem?
It's
important to us to work with artists who really understand the genre and
can help us express our themes visually because it helps set the stage for the
listener and enhances the overall experience. With music that is complex,
intense and thematically deep, the artwork plays a crucial role in visually
translating those qualities.
9. With Requiem releasing
through Willowtip Records on May 9, what are your plans for promoting the
album? Can we expect tours, music videos, or any special releases?
Absolutely,
we're working on some really exciting stuff behind the scenes and can't wait to
share it with you all! For now, you can expect more teasers before the
album is released on May 9th, as well as another music video.
10. Looking
ahead, where do you see Ominous Ruin evolving musically after Requiem?
Are there any new directions or ideas you’re eager to explore in the future?
It's
challenging to predict as creative processes are fluid but we are constantly
evolving and pushing our creative boundaries. You can expect us to maintain
aspects of technical death metal and continue to explore deep and dark lyrical
and musical concepts, but we're also working to evolve our sound and expand
outside of that sub genre to be more of a well-rounded and unique metal
project. A new album is already in the works, although it's on the back-burner
a bit while we push this one out!
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