Ruthless are too hard to die. The band from Los Angeles strikes again almost five years after the very good “Evil Within”. There was no way an album of American power metal could not pass through my speakers, so I jumped right in to listen it.
For those who aren’t of a certain age, or don’t have a strong memory, let me remind you that Ruthless aren’t exactly yesterday’s news. The band has been around since 1982. In 1985 they released an EP called “Metal Without mercy”, which is considered a pure cult piece of music, and a year later they released their first album, “Discipline Of Steel”. They started working on their next album right away, but it never saw the light of day as they broke up.
They made their comeback in 2015 and now, with their new work Ruthless have 4 full albums! From the original line-up, their vocalist Sammy DeJohn and drummer Bob Guitrau remain. Needless to say that DeJohn has always been an awesome vocalist!
On “The Fallen” they certainly don’t aim for an award for originality, but then again why would they? They continue with the familiar and so beloved sound of US metal that so many generations have grown up with. Stormy they are now driven by Glen Paul’s guitars the band presents a pretty well put together album.
There are dynamite compositions such as “The Fallen”, “Soldiers Of Steel”, “Thulsa Doom” and “Live To Die” which closes the album in an excellent way. On the other hand, there are some moments that I wouldn’t call that inspiring. Another dark spot is the quite dull production which I don’t think is appropriate for their style. At the moment of writing these lines I’m listening to “Metal Without Mercy” and to my ears it sounds cleaner! How is that possible?
Anyway, “The Fallen” is a solid album from a band that seems to be living a second youth and maybe even claiming a bigger piece of history for their name. Surely fans of the sound will find this work quite interesting.
