After another strong year of extreme and punishing releases, Sentient Ruin Laboratories looks to start 2023 off with an unspeakably devastating debut full-length release conjured up from the insidious one-man blackened industrial act known as, Uranium. “An Exacting Punishment,” is a five-track exploration into a nightmare like post-apocalyptic world where all of humanity has perished under a sinister blanket of suffocating radiation.
Uranium is a truly unique act that caught my attention right away and definitely fits within the Sentient Ruin roster. I think what makes this album standout is the profound ambient sounds which do not follow any sort of rules, or common musical patterns. The harsh unpredictable soundscapes keep you listening with great interest, while pulling you further into the desolate sounding void. I can pick up a variety of influences ranging from black metal to industrial, but I think the artist behind Uranium is able to really make this album convey a distinct overall sound, which also greatly strengthens the album's conceptual presentation.
The opening composition, “Trinity,” is a really warped sounding piece of music that comes across as almost sadistically hypnotic. As the massive amounts of distortion twist and turn like a serpent slithering over an endless field of bones, the vocals provide an utterly horrifying touch to the already sinister atmosphere. On the second track, “Prison of Flesh,” you can really hear the nerve pounding industrial elements which create a brutal sounding climate of pestilent entropy. Track number three, “Gnawing at the Bones,” is a bit of a departure from the more grueling distorted assault upon the ears which was heavily emphasized on the previous tracks. The song conveys a very eerie and bone chilling atmosphere where the sounds leave you speechless as if you are witnessing some unfathomable evil scenario unfold before your eyes.
The final two tracks on the album continue to push that extreme experimental mentality that Uranium seems to utilize with such profound ferocious force. “An Exacting Punishment,” is not only the longest track off of the album, but I also believe that the song is the most dynamic arrangement on the album. At first the music flows and establishes this very mesmerizing structure that somehow morphs into a cataclysmic industrial bludgeoning. On the final song, “No Light,” the drum sounds violently explode across the landscape as the end draws near and the music starts to reach that hopeless oblivion. I thought the climatic conclusion to this album was very well thought out, especially when looking back at how the entire album was arranged.
If you are a fan of unorthodox extreme music that combines the deafening nature of industrial metal with the raw savage nature of black metal, then you should definitely check out Uranium’s, “An Exacting Punishment.” This album is extremely well produced and the creativity that went into each track is not to be ignored. Even though Uranium does not show off any technical talent, I personally find that the ability to bring together a plethora of haunting sounds to tell a vivid and surreal sounding tale to be more impressive than some dude randomly shredding for 40 minutes. Once you starting listening to Uranium I can guarantee that you will find it hard to turn away from the utter insanity and malevolent sounding hallucinogenic terror that enters your ears and alters your mind. An album that is truly worth checking out!
Check out the song "Prison of Flesh" :
Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:
https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/an-exacting-punishment
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Always enjoy your reviews Robby.
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