Artist: THE RUINS OF BEVERAST
Album: BLOOD VAULTS - THE BLAZING GOSPEL OF HEINRICH KRAMER VINYL (2LP)

Release date: 2013
Media type: LP

- fullcoloured gatefold cover
- heavy printed innersleeves
- 180g blue virgin vinyl
- Artwork by Axel Hermann (Grave, Morgoth, Asphyx, Samael, etc.)

Since 2003, Alexander von Meilenwald, the former drummer for Nagelfar, has been releasing sprawling black metal epics under the name The Ruins of Beverast. His music starts with a basic black metal template and incorporates doom metal and death metal, all steeped in thick gothic atmosphere. Meilenwald's albums are cinematic in scope and are best appreciated as singular experiences rather than broken up in to individual tracks. Meilenwald's newest offering under the Ruins of Beverast name is Blood Vaults: The Blazing Gospel of Heinrich Kramer. Fans of Meilenwald's previous work under the Beverast moniker will still like this new album, but it's a departure from the type of music he's created in the past.

Those who've followed the Ruins of Beverast from the first album know that the project has slowly been evolving from the fairly raw black metal of Unlock the Shrine to the much more doom influenced Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite. Blood Vaults is another step in that direction, and, at this point, it's debatable whether or not this is even black metal anymore. The sub-genre's putrid influence can certainly be felt throughout the album, but full on black metal songs are nigh absent here. The brief second-to-last-track, "Ordeal", is the only song on the entire 80 minute album that presents the listener with non-stop blast beats and a tempo that rises above a crawl for a sustained amount of time. The constant slow lurch of the music gets monotonous sometimes, and it's easy to lose track of what song you're listening to, but Meilenwald is such a skilled composer that his music will quickly recapture your attention.

A1  Apologia  2:22  
A2  Daemon  8:57  
A3  Malefica  10:24  

B1  Ornaments On Malice  8:14  
B2  Spires, The Wailing City  13:16  

C1  A Failed Exorcism  15:33  

D1  Trial  3:43  
D2  Ordeal  3:47  
D3  Monument  12:05