The Ruins of Beverast will release a new album, The Thule Grimoires, through Ván Records on February 5, 2021.



Tracklisting
1. Ropes Into Eden
2. The Tundra Shines
3. Kromlec'h Knell
4. Mammothpolis
5. Anchoress In Furs
6. Polar Hiss Hysteria
7. Deserts To Bind And Defeat

I'm really looking forward to hearing what the follow up to Exuvia sounds like. The songs on the splits with Mourning Beloveth and Almyrkvi were great, so hopefully von Meilenwald has a lot left in the tank creatively for this new full length.

Cover artwork gives me more of a black metal than doom/black metal vibe. As for someone who is only fond of Rain Upon the Impure nowadays, I just don't think this band will still do it for me. I'd love to be proven wrong of course!

Wasn't into those split tracks, but Exuvia was brilliant. Should be a great way to start next year.

This band is the absolute pinnacle of dark, evil and downright sinister music. I am beyond stoked!!

Excellent news! Blood Vaults is still my favourite, with Rain upon the Impure as a close second.

Unlock the Shrine, Rain And Foulest are my go tos when I want to listen to TRoB. I still remember getting Unlock the Shrine back when it came out and they were not well known yet and I bought it mostly because of Von Meilenwald’s work with Nagelfar. I’ve enjoyed the albums after the first three but they’ve had less staying power for me... still I’m hoping that the new one will deliver.

The first single is out, OP is updated with the tracklist:

Surprisingly restraint...I could do with some more riffs and less clean vocals, but oh well.

Yeah, I still don't get this band. I'm all in for slow minimalistic approaches to metal but nothing really happens for 8 minutes and the clean vocals are really bad. I really want to like this band but they are really dull.

What have you heard? I'm not as excited as I once was about this band, but Rain Upon the Impure still does it for me; just a colossal piece of black metal.

I think quite a bit happens in this - sounds slow but involved and with sound elements building up over the duration like usual. I like their meditative, murky vibes. It's just something you get into for the experience of it, like a wave. Much more clean vocals now, though fitting with the ominous stew of dark sounds - and that video is awesome too.

Really looking forward to this!

Yeah it works for me. Really digging this and it’s sticking with me which is good.

Man is it ever sweet to hear more music with that ghastly fucking guitar tone! I dig this! Definitely has a slightly different vibe and I can see the Type-O comparisons, but I think Alexander did a great job and molding that influence into his signature sound as it very much still sounds like The Ruins Of Beverast. It reminds me a bit of Exuvia but instead of incorporating Native tribal music, he chose a different element.

I'm really interested in hearing what this song sounds like in the context of the rest of the album, as each record he's done is like a full piece in itself that needs to be experienced from beginning to end (though you can still pick out standalone tracks and enjoy them just as much). Stoked for this!!

I've listened to Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite, Blood Vaults: The Blazing Gospels of Heinrich Kramer and Exuvia. I don't know, I just don't think the riffs are good.

For some reason, I STILL to this day get this band and Rebirth of Nefast mixed up.

The darkwave influence was always there, but it definitely got more apparent the more Alex continued on with the project. It definitely fit Exuvia and its primitive hallucinogenic induced ritual vibe. Definitely dig the new song, and I'm hoping for a good album.

The three recent split release tracks are amazing, and this new album track is even better. Gotta revisit some of the older stuff while waiting for February.

Well, that's your main issue. You completely missed out on his first two albums (which are the superior albums from his discography). Just take a listen to "The Clockhand's Groaning Circles", "Soil Of The Incestuous", or "Summer Decapitation Ritual" from those two albums if you want to hear some riffs.

As for the new track, it unfortunately did nothing for me. Like others said, I kept waiting for the song to really get going and it just never got going. Lack of memorable riffs and the clean vocals didn't help either. The only part I did like was the very ending with the drums and chanting. Hope the rest of the album won't be like this track.

Here's the second single:

Gotta say, while this isn't as despicably evil as past material, I do find this psychedelic direction that Alexander's taking TROB to be pretty interesting! A vibe that still feels consistent with the project as a whole, but is exploring a particular avenue in greater depth. I dig!

I 100% second this. I’m actually really enjoying the direction and it feels like a logical evolution of the sound.

Thirded. It still absolutely sounds like Beverast in its core but it's fresh and a new take.

This definitely seems like a fresh side of his sound - almost like mood/atmospheric music to put behind a film, but with some riffs and creepy vocals over it. I'll be real curious to hear all of it as a whole.

Saw this thread a while ago, but never posted... Anyway, listened to Anchoress in Furs and immediately loved the shit out of it. Such depth and sound scapes - gave me chills. Exuvia was such a great record and am still enamored with it, so I'm really looking forward to hearing this in full when it comes out as I've just pre-ordered the vinyl, cd and tshirt.

Another belter in the making, I sure hope so.

Decibel Magazine just posted a full album premiere:

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2021/01/27/album-premiere-the-ruins-of-beverast-the-thule-grimoires/

First time hearing, it has some really marvelous tracks. Definitely going to buy it, but I don't know if it will grow in me as big as Exuvia is.

Yeah, unfortunately, this is the weakest effort from Alexander (at least regarding TROB). It was only a first listen and maybe the album will grow on me with subsequent listens and I do plan on purchasing the digital version of the album on Bandcamp sometime... but I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed with this album. There isn't one song that stands out from the album in my opinion. Not one song that I'm going to go back and replay all the time like the previous albums had. There weren't really any awesome catchy riffs that Alexander is known for (i.e. The Clockhand's Groaning Circles/Summer Decapitation Ritual) and I'm not feeling his clean vocals and heavy Type O Negative influence either. Don't get me wrong, there are brief sporadic parts throughout the album that I enjoyed and made my head start to bob. But, for the most part, I wasn't really invested in the music.

I feel like Alexander has gotten slightly worse with each subsequent album with Unlock The Shrine being his magnum opus and Rain Upon The Impure just being slightly lower on my rating than Unlock The Shrine mainly due to the muddled mix. Since then, each subsequent album I've enjoyed slightly less than the previous one. Hopefully he can turn it around with the next one whenever that is...

Man, what a bummer.

*sigh*

Upon revisiting his old albums, Rain Upon the Impure is probably my favorite alongside Foulest Semen now - both are such masterfully enveloping atmospheric dark works. Really quite awe-inspiring.

Playing the new one now - sounds pretty dark and weird so far. Definitely not resting on his laurels or falling back on cliche and I like that.

edit - halfway in; this is definitely real moody stuff. More atmospheric than riffy or aggressive. I'm playing it on a sunny Saturday morning and am not sure this is the optimal conditions, but I can dig the vibe of what he's doing. I think this one is even less accessible than Exuvia, so it might take some time to really dig into. More plays needed for sure.

Like all their albums this one feels like a singular journey that just sucks you in. I like it. Looking forward to seeing how it grows on me.

First impression is that it's really good. As many have noted, some songs have almost a Type O Negative sort of vibe sometimes, but in the context of the album it makes a lot more sense. I never trust singles to give me a good view of a band like this.

For something of this length I'll need to listen a lot more to place it with regard to TRoB's previous albums. I can say, though, that I think Exuvia was an absolute masterpiece and by no means does TRoB get worse with each passing album. Blood Vaults was probably my least favorite, but Exuvia is up there with Rain Upon the Impure for me. Truly a unique vision, and each album is a world of its own. More than almost any other band, it's otherworldly. Not in the sense of "weird" or "jarring" but with an emphasis on the "world" part.

Surely, one of the best albums I've heard in a while, and one that will have a lot of staying power and get a lot of replays.

I loved the first couple of singles Alexander released, but after a few spins, this is the weakest of TRoB's albums in my opinion.

I get the direction Meilenwald was taking with Blood Vaults and Exuvia, making it denser and a lot more sludge-y but this just lacks all the innovative work that was in previous albums. Plus, the atmosphere leaves me cold and is lacking in intensity. I sort of like the clean vocals, but in a lot of places, they don't sit right with the music. Its a 5.5/10 album, for me.

This one seems like his least black metal-focused work. It's still in there, and "Polar Hiss Hysteria" stands out in that it actually kinda rocks out - but a lot of the rest seems more focused on these big ominous waves of atmosphere and dark melody. Not sure I'll put this at the same level as the old stuff, but artists don't have to top their classics to still be good.

Just listened to Ropes of Eden and it was fucking magical. This is stuff that just hits me in the right kind of way... definitely been a while since TRoB impacted me this much, since Foulest... makes me think I need to give Exuvia a lot more time.

Listening to the Van Records stream of it now, and will buy. Though certainly not as heavy as their prior stuff, it seems as though they've expanded their sound - I'm hearing an odd mix of Type O and the less crushing, more meditative parts of an Evoken song echoing in the background.

Can purchase it digitally from the band at https://theruinsofbeverast.bandcamp.com ... -grimoires

I've liked it more every spin. This is some seriously cold, dense, immersive music from a dude who has mastered his art. "The Tundra Shines" and "Anchoress in Furs" are masterful in particular.

CD came in the mail yesterday, and finally got around to listening.

Holy fuck, what an album. Ropes Into Eden and The Tundra Shines are fucking outstanding tracks, and the whole album has a great sense of flow that feels varied yet cohesive. It's very fresh sounding, but not straying from the core of what The Ruins Of Beverast is.

He's done it again. Further confirming that Alexander Von Meilenwald is one of the most underrated composers in all of extreme metal, and perhaps in metal as a whole.