A Wilhelm Scream – Ruiner / 2005 Nitro / 14 Tracks / http://www.awilhelmscream.com / http://www.nitrorecords.com / Reviewed 26 July 2005

The all-out aural blast of A Wilhelm Scream on “Ruiner” is as sure and intense as it was on “Mute Print”; what may be different is the amount of difficulty that mark the arrangements on the CD. Much like their ideological cousins Thought Riot, AFI and early Avenged Sevenfold, there is a definite eighties-hair metal influence that makes itself known during the entirety of “Ruiner”. Even though the music on the disc is by and large easy to categorize as “post-hardcore” (emo to those initiated), there are some moments (specifically on “The Pool”) where A Wilhelm Scream challenges seriously any breakdown put out by a pit-worthy punk or hardcore band.

The very iconic and straight-forward riffs of a track like “The Kids Can Eat A Bag of Dicks” shows A Wilhelm Scream as a band that can excite just as much with a small amount of material as bands do with tremendous amounts of funds available for recording, mixing and mastering and the like. Eveni if there is a harder element throughout the songs on “Ruiner”, the simple fact is that A Wilhelm Scream is a band that can play a style of music that is theirs and still pander successfully for those inculcated into the mTV/Clearchannel brand of things. There is not a moment on “Ruiner” when A Wilhelm Scream feels as if they are spinning their wheels; each hit on “Ruiner” is done with the same explosive impact and involves listeners equally. The disc is a smidgin under forty minutes, but the density of the music contained is enough to make the disc have tremendous replay value and a full sound that never allows a listener to want.

By far, it may just be “Killing It” that is the most ready of their tracks for the big time; aside from the all-in chorus present, the differing time signatures employed by the band during the track are a continual blast of fresh air. “The Pool” is another of a string of hits that “Ruiner” uses to gain the momentum necessary for the rest of the disc; the vocals captured on the track move far beyond the simplistic purveyance of words into the realm of pure, almost heavenly instrumentation. “Mute Print” was the first step to superstardom, and A Wilhelm Scream really achieve that goal with this, their “Ruiner”. Pick it up and enjoy this punk/emo/metal hybrid, and tell all your friends!

Top Tracks: Killing It, The Pool

Rating: 7.4/10