RUHO
The Devout Thrum
(Fallen Temple)
47:58min

My favorite word in that funny clown language known as Finnish is “Kalsarikännit”. It means getting drunk in your underwear with no intention to leave the house and if that isn’t one of the most beautiful things imaginable, then I don’t know what is. This random piece of information is not connected to RUHO in any way (even though I am sure that they enjoy a cold drink or twenty), but in times of quarantines and lockdowns, I take my educational responsibility very serious. RUHO is a Black Metal band from Finland that has been active for a good decade by now and their band name translates to “carcass”, which struck me kind of funny in the context of the first song title: ‘Disastrous Murmur’. Erm, ok. Whatever. I have known about RUHO’s existence for quite a while now, but never actually bothered to listen… and you know what? This isn’t what I was expecting at all. For whatever reason, I thought that RUHO would be noisier, rawer and more forgettable. They have released a split with GRAUSAMKEIT, who simply are the textbook definition of noisy, raw and forgettable, but this album is actually pretty good. It’s cold and hateful, but at the same time melodic in the right places, which is accentuated by the surprisingly clear and full production. The problem that I have with it, however, is that it gets too monotonous by the second song. A four-track album with a duration of almost 50 minutes hardly ever works if you are not a master of the craft of songwriting, and RUHO just aren’t. They know how to pummel the listener into oblivion, and yes, there is a certain pleasure in that, but I love my pasta al dente, my cornflakes crispy and my Black Metal to the fucking point. More RUHO info at: www.facebook.com/ruho666. Feel free to listen at https://ruho.bandcamp.com or buy at www.fallentemple.pl.

Thomas Reitmayer

Thomas Reitmayer

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