“This is what I’m fucking talking about!” were my exact words the moment the very first song off of Halfway Human (eOne/SPV/Longbranch), ‘Shape Shifter’ finished playing in my ears for the first time. Since then I have not been able to turn this album off. Brushing your teeth to ‘Absolution’, track seven on the album has proven quite difficult with all the head banging. “No longer will we be casualties to an unrealistic world!!!!”….toothpaste everywhere!

Stepping slightly back from the fast paced deathcore speed sound of past albums like Phenomena (eOne) that had amazing songs like ‘Clockwork’ and ‘The Others’ which almost have nonstop double bass drums and deep brutal growls, Halfway Human seems to tighten up everything that Within The Ruins has already perfected but give it a more American Heavy Metal sound, reminiscent of Ashes of the Wake (Epic). The album gives off the impression that instead of just jumping on their instruments, finding a heavy sound and pounding a song out, they all sat down and wrote every measure to be as technically sound and heavy as possible then splashed it with a melodic influence.

Tom Goergen’s vocals seem crisper and more understandable then past albums but are still as teeth-shattering as ever, only to be enhanced by Paolo Galang’s back-ups and cleans. Joe Cocchi and Galang’s guitar and bass work just get your body moving, aching for a pit or that constant fight of making your way to the front of a metal crowd, and those solos there are no words. Kevin “Drummer” McGuill’s drumming is phenomenal as well; this album is damn near flawless.

Don’t take my word for it. Check out their new single ‘Death Of A Rockstar’, a song about the bands’ frustration with the musical industry as of late, and once you hear it you are not going to want to stop. Especially when you hear that first epic breakdown. After three vocalists, five bassists, and their fifth album, Within The Ruins are continuing to better themselves and proving that they are a dominant force in the metal community.

8.5/10

TIM STEBBINS