Location: San Antonio, Texas
Country: USA
Gemre: Gothic doom metal
Full length: Ruminations of Ruin
Format: Digital, CD
Label: Morbid And Miserable Records (USA)
Release date: March 21, 2025
Marble Orchard’s portrayal of personal loss and cherished memories is represented in a realm, an entire cosmos, little larger than an old darkened cathedral with halls and archways made of immaculate stone and what suspiciously appears to be blood covering the floor. Like Francis B. Gröss’ morbid dream in “Faces of Death”, everything is quiet and there’s the semblance of an endless funeral. But something alive is here, waiting to be confronted face to face.
As Lacuna Coil had in the 2000s, “Ruminations of Ruin” has a way of commanding attention from the limitless abyss of goth, doom, and gothic doom musicians. The nightmarish cover artwork represents an environment personifying the darkest essence of your soul where introspection and catharsis create an appropriate ambiance for Type O Negative, My Dying Bride, Swallow the Sun and November’s Doom. Marble Orchard accompany you on the passage into spirit nighttime via finely composed and arranged gothic metal flowing like blood on the cathedral floors.
Sustaining this mental and emotional panorama relies heavily on presence. Like the audial and visual stimulation of “Building Monuments to Misery”, “Ruminations of Ruin” has a presence that emanates tenebrosity with an occasional touch of penumbra, enticing you to venture further into the darkness with a sense of tranquility rather than a sense of disquiet. This formula depicts Marble Orchard conveying their intended ideas (which show the appeal of Type O Negative, My Dying Bride, Swallow the Sun, and November's Doom) through their song titles and lyrics.
While this is going on, the vocals and instrumentation let that invisible thing take on a life of its own. While the former album is a straightforward depiction of the empty spaces left by false religious promises and unmet goals, the latter appears to fill those spaces with a certain knowledge, ties to lighter days, and a stronger desire to experience them again. Once those memories are experienced, they may be carried with you on your endless journey into the twilight. Marble Orchard's "Ruminations of Ruin" takes subtle but obvious advances toward the future of gothic metal. -Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Gran Inquisidor - Patris - Omnia Instrumenta et Productionem - ♃
Alguacil - Filii - Cithara plumbea - ♄
Calificador - Spiritus Sancti - Tympana - ⛢
Track list:
1. Contemplating the Garden of Gethsemane
2. Engraven
3. A Bitter Home for Memories
4. Hosanna
5. When Night Gives Way to Day
6. When Everything is Lost
7. Mea Culpa
8. A Life Not Worth Living
9. Anti-Mirth (Anhedonia)
10. Via Dolorosa
11. Seven Swords, Seven Sorrows
12. Come Wander with Me
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