While
My Ruin
has lost none of the rage wrapped up in 2001's
Prayer Under Pressure of Violent Anguish
, it has benefited from the addition of full-time drummer
Yael
.
Horror of Beauty
(the band's first full-length for
Century Media
) is still dominated by
Tarrie B.
's voice and ideology. But
Mick Murphy
's road case full of riffs finally have a cohesive rhythm section to play off of.
Murphy
,
, and bassist
Meghan Mattox
don't simply build a platform for
Tarrie
to tear new assholes from -- they're four hungry heads in a quartet hardened through cohesion, and they're all gunning for you.
Beauty
cuts L.A.
Whiskey
-style
hard rock
with elements of
thrash
and sludgy goth. It's not a new sound by any means, but when done this well it'll give a nun a new habit.
takes Tinseltown to task (the churning
"Ten Minutes to Hollywood"
), and curses the unclear channels of restrictive radio programming in the subversive ripper
"Radio Silence,"
but it's body type and self-image issues that really have her fired up here.
"Made to Measure"
's pull-offs and cymbal crashes simmer at a
cock rock
rolling boil, and it comes complete with a giddy wah-wah solo. But
's harsh, screamed lyrics call out every industry hack that ever put a premium on being thin or pretty. "You wanna know how much I weigh?/WHAT?!," she asks a clueless record exec in
"Weightless."
There's plenty of venom here, obviously (and with
's explosive drumming, plenty of power). But it's the incredulity in
's voice that sells her message. She's honestly bewildered -- why does how I look relate to how I rock? -- and that makes
pragmatic instead of preachy. It's pissed-off music made with precision and heart. ~ Johnny Loftus