Hailing from Austin, Texas this is the debut release by the band Runescarred, a hard hitting and brutally powerful heavy metal group that flirts between hard rock, black metal, hardcore but with some of the intricacies of progressive metal thrown in for good measure.
Formed in 2017, the band released the We Are EP in 2018 which hinted at what was to come and certainly raised their profile but at only 15-minutes it could not convey the full power and might that the band brings to bear with the first full length album. The band comprises Ven Scott on vocals that verge from growls to the grizzled, grittiness of a 40 a day habit with Tim Driscoll and Skunk Manhattan sharing lead guitar duties, Payton Holekamp on drums and Josh Robins on bass. Sensitive and introspective this album is most definitely not but if you like your rock to be a brutal onslaught that takes no prisoners then you will most assuredly get and appreciate what Runescarred are doing.
In many ways, this is a band that defies categorisation and you can call to mind the likes of Annihilator, Avenged Sevenfold and Napalm Death but that still doesn’t nail their style or the swagger that they bring to it. Scott is a vocalist who gets more powerful as the album progresses and the guitarists supply immense riffs and some killer lead breaks and there are enough drums and bass to bring down a tower block and if played too loud then I’m sure your head would explode!
A bit too brutal and intense for me but if you need metal oblivion or a sedative to ease the woes of this world then Runescarred are ideal for you.
The Distant Infinite track listing
- Hexit (4:41)
- Inviting Rivers (3:26)
- Minor Progressions (4:54)
- Swallow Your Tail (5:37)
- Legionem Eclipsem (4:02)
- Twisting Flesh (6:40)
- This Distant Infinite (1:53)
- Sorrow Is (3:09)
- Poison Oasis (5:19)
- Mammoth (5:30)
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