Fury Among Ruins represent the first Full-length release (albeit a somewhat short one at eighteen minutes spread across ten tracks) from Polish Black/Thrash/Speed Metal quartet Scrüda. Credit where credit is due, the band has been somewhat productive, having released a grand total of three releases and a Single since their inception back in 2021 (a Demo, a Split, before-mentioned Single and Fury Among Ruins, the target of todays scribble). Having no prior knowledge of their previous releases however, I will be focusing on the album by its own merit, seeing as how I am unable to comopetently describe how their sound have changed, if at all, over time.

Simply put: Speed and aggression is key. The tracks are short, with the majority of them lasting less than two minutes and self-contained in the sense that each track is unconnected to the rest, aside from a shared lyrical theme (that of barbarians and the hostile nature of mankind in general). Musically everything seems to have been cranked up to eleven – Fast-paced, simple machine gun-riffs layered atop a subtle but powerful drum kit that is equally ramped up to just below the rafters. Overall the result is powerful, relentless and no doubt very capable of rising up a storm at any venue. Sadly the approach also means that the music comes across as very ‘sanded down’, with no particular edges or unique style to help make any of the tracks memorable, as is the case with for instance Napalm Death or Anal Cunt whose earlier work I would consider somewhat comparable to this release. Interesting premise, as seen on the track ”Swords”, but not something that lingers in my mind for long after the record stops spinning.

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