Dead City Ruins are a hard rock band from Australia formed in 2012 releasing four albums to date – ‘Midnight Killer’ (2012), ‘Dead City Ruins’ (2013), ‘Never Say Die’ (2018), and ‘Shockwave’ released in 2022.
Armed with a new singer, Australian hard rockers Dead City Ruins return to the rock scene with a massive bang! The band’s new album is twelve songs strong and will send shockwaves all around the world – the five-piece celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band in swashbuckling style. Think of legendary bands such as Skid Row, Ratt, Poison, Cinderella and the mighty Aerosmith – bands who arguably placed sleaze rock/metal on the worldwide map during the eighties and into the nineties – and you’ll have some idea of the sound of Dead City Ruins.
The new album comes to life with the sleaze rocker ‘Preacher’ – a heavy-hitting and punchy number that makes an immediate impression, instantly reminding me of the late eighties and all those previously mentioned bands! What a time that was for hard rock – and despite what a famous glam rocker from the seventies claims, rock is most definitely not dead! Not with Dead City Ruins around – hell no! Adopting a heavier attitude, ‘Vision’ also punches harder than ‘Preacher’, knocking you flat on your back with an astounding amount of energy! More catchy too, ‘Vision’ will turn many new listeners onto the band’s music – yes, dear readers, it’s that infectious. And maintaining what seems the band’s penchant for punchy, hard-hitting rock, ‘Madness’ is a tremendous thunder stomp reminiscent of mid-nineties Skid Row.
With the title of ‘Speed Machine’, Dead City Ruins do not disappoint – ‘Speed Machine’ is full of pace, power and energy. And enough hooks to engage many of the world’s metal heads into giving the band a listen too! Bluesy and fit for a cowboy western movie soundtrack, ‘Rain’ is a slow-burning swagger of Southern rock, classic rock and blues rock. What a combination, eh! And it works very well – Dead City Ruins does not give a fuck about what direction their album goes in, and the band’s levels of prowess and proficiency sky high. Did someone call for a party anthem? With extra pace? Oh yes, please – ‘Dog On A Leash’, a feverish rocker that’ll have everyone up off their seats and dancing like it’s going out of fashion! What an incredible first half of the album, with energy and oomph at incredible levels.
And now for the second half, kicking off with the thunderstorm that goes by the name of ‘This Side Of The Dirt’ – the rockiest and most in-your-face song heard so far. Maybe even bordering on the metal and punk genres too!
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Dead City Ruins return to the Southern rock swagger of earlier with ‘Drifter’ strutting a proud path layered with the blues. But not content to remain on the path, the band deviate a couple of times into traditional hard rock territory.
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Simply sublime. The band continue to stretch their musical horizons by introducing grunge touches into their hard rocking, sleazy roots – ‘Spiders’ boldly lashing the airways with a feisty yet frivolous nature.
Heading into the album’s final quarter, Dead City Ruins have been electric, fizzing with energy and oozing sass – upping the ante and returning the pace of earlier courtesy of ‘End Of The Line’. This once again reminds me of mid-nineties Skid Row and the direction they took rock music in. A direction that Dead City Ruins have emulated more than once on ‘Shockwave’. An album that seems to have just flown by – mainly because an incredible eleven of the twelve songs on offer are all less than four minutes in length! Crikey! Blimey! And just amazing! Moving on, the band are back in familiar territory, with ‘Blood Moon’ parading the band’s majestic head-held high heavy hard rock swagger. And as the final song approaches, a modern-day hard rock album comes to an end without delivering one single ballad – the band maintaining breathless energy that has never dipped. ‘The Sorcerer’ ends the album with plenty of punch and crunch, swagger, energy and oomph. Never having heard the band before, I can honestly say it’s been a pleasure to have experienced Australian hard rockers Dead City Ruins and their myriad of rock styles.
Overall, a punchy album of heavy-hitting hard rock, extremely infectious and one hundred percent addictive.
TRACKLIST
Preacher
Vision
Madness
Speed Machine
Rain
Dog On A Leash
This Side Of The Dirt
Drifter
Spiders
End Of The Line
Blood Moon
The Sorcerer
Dead City Ruins: Facebook
Release Year: 2022
Label: AFM Records
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
