BURNING STONE

The zeuhl-influenced brutal prog of Ruins isn't the sort of thing you expect to sound quite this accessible, and yet the energetic and exuberant Burning Stone somehow manages to offer a clearly enunciated on-ramp to getting to grips with the Ruins sound without at all compromising the intensity or complexity of their music. Beginning with its longest composition, Zasca Coska, the album then runs through a range of bite-size excursions into a unique sonic world, making this a great point of entry for the Ryuichi Masuda era of Ruins. Tatsuya Yoshida as always is the power behind the drum kit here, with some excellent moments to showcase his diverse percussion skills.