RINGWORM
Seeing Through Fire
Nuclear Blast
Well, there are those eyes, again. Ever since the resurrection level effort Hammer of The Witch in 2014, RINGWORM album art has had, how could you say, a certain visual flair (at least to me) - prominently featuring eyes. For some reason the eyes are the focal point of the art, drawing the proposed listener in at once with curiosity and mystery. The cover for newest platter Seeing Through Fire is no different - the demon depicted staring into you and through you at once with the confidence of an everflowing stream.
Bounce is not necessarily a descriptor I ever envisioned when describing RINGWORM, but the lead off title track just plain bounces along, perfectly content in its meandering noodling, with swelling drums and a swaggering cadence. Nod ya head - this is what you came for. The riffs sharpen considerably come verse time, blastbeats in lock step with a driving rhythm showcasing exactly why RINGWORM has endured for 30 years already - and still going strong. The band is a shining example of staying in the lane you’ve carved for yourself and simply bludgeoning all comers - thrash at heart, DIY punk ethos, and enough mosh churning riff salads to keep you coming back for more.
Focus track (it's a single, camman) "No Solace, No Quarter, No Mercy" is awesomely titled and will have you circle pitting with your pets in no time flat. Watch out for the coffee table. Shout along at the end of the song in your living room - feel alive.
The album goes by at the right pace for the style, with very little fat to trim, in all honesty. I consistently enjoy the short bursts of melody that RINGWORM inject into their songcraft with short yet meaningful guitar solos in nearly every song on offer here (and in their whole catalogue really). The placement is always exciting and memorable - check out "Unavoidable Truth" as an example. Now, try to get it out of your head. The hooks and barbs are all over Seeing Through Fire and are aching to rip into you.
Nine albums deep and all of them with something unique, RINGWORM has never faltered from their chosen mission - to absolutely pulverize the listener. As I look again to the cover, I am reminded of the debut of a little band you may have heard of called DISMEMBER - the similarity is quite uncanny and very apt: Like An Everflowing Stream is, so many years later, the sound of a very hungry band. Its heaviness is undeniable. Similarly, Seeing Through Fire finds RINGWORM sounding more hungry and vibrant and, above all, vital, than they have in this iteration of the band. The sound and the fury leave goosebumps behind. And then, you'll press play again.
3.75 Out Of 5.0
