Single Slam – Beautiful Agony by Within The Ruins (Halfway Human)

Following hot on the heels of the first single, Death of the Rockstar (read that review here), the American metal band Within The Ruins have released a new track called Beautiful Agony. Beautiful Agony is the second single from their upcoming album Halfway Human. Halfway Human is due to be released on the 3rd of March 2017 through independent label eOne. I really enjoyed the first single so am pretty excited to listen to this latest one so let’s get started.

Beautiful Agony is 4 and a half minutes long in total and is another heavy track. Starting with a short effect before jumping quickly into a catchy riff and clever drum pattern. The first verse is shouted furiously by singer Tim Goergen over a heavy guitar and rhythmic drumming. Each line of vocals ending with a high pitched guitar line. That leads straight into an even faster section with a bass filled, low toned riff, fast drums and angry vocals spat out at different pitches.

The chorus is also really good. Heavy music and drawn out clean vocals in the background with shouted vocals over the top. It could have sounded messy, with so much going on, but it works really well. There is a heavy instrument section that leads into more angry vocals and then another instrumental section before the second verse kicks in. It again leads into the brilliantly angry faster section of the verse. Another catchy chorus leads into a fantastic solo from Joe Cocchi.

I love it. It is fast, heavy and backed up brilliantly by fantastic drumming from Kevin McGuill and bass slapping from Paolo Galang. Sadly, the solo ends and the song jumps straight into a bit of a breakdown with shouted vocals over a stop start riff and drum beat. This leads into a final section with a high pitched, drawn out guitar line, a bass that sounds like the string is on the verge of snapping with that bend, some muffled shouts in the background and a slower drum beat which then leads into a short section of clean singing over the same music. It goes back to heavy before fading out to end.

The song has been released along with a music video which you can check out from the link below. That video was directed by Justin Reich and guitarist Joe Cocchi has said the following about it – “It has a darker vibe than most of our previous material and this video totally conveys that. Justin Reich did an amazing job with the video!”

I really liked the first single but this is even better. It is dark, heavy and Within The Ruins are obviously at the top of their game right now. There are loads of cool and inventive riffs and drum rhythms here. The vocals are strong and the guitar solo is absolutely banging. This new album has the potential to be huge.

Another great track from Within The Ruins suggests Halfway Human could be one of the releases of the year. It is one of the albums, I am surprised to find, that I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on.

Check the song and video out for yourself here. If you like what you here, why not preorder the new album from here.

You can hear more from Within The Ruins on Last FM. Give them a like or follow over on Facebook or Twitter to keep up to date with news on both the band and the new album too.