Album Review: OVER POWER - Ruination 9 (Grindcore)

OVER POWER
Ruination
Grindcore
Indonesia
October 4, 2018
9/10

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OVER POWER are an Indonesian death grind trio with an addictive grindcore sound, brace and behold the downstrokes and audio samples. I have a soft spot for this style of music, it’s so rooted in having a good time that I can’t bring myself to scrutinize it. Ruination is a mosh a minute and a head-nodder at the very least. There’s some interesting takes on here, especially vocally.

There’s a thrash element to OVER POWER that remove them further from grindcore and closer to just death metal grind. It’s a nice tune for 2019 where those -core elements are essentially the norm. There’s a lot of rhythm here along with a clarity in production, this is a seriously chunky album that I will be getting on cassette at some point for sure. Where a lot of grindcore have 10-minute releases, this is a half hour serving across 16 fleshed out tracks.

The structure here is very simple but the album still sounds unique, I’m not sure if it’s due to musical/cultural differences in Indonesia or if not, or their approach with recording or something like that. There’s a layer of grease over the whole thing that really draws you in and it’s hard to put my finger on. The general highlights for me are the drum tones and variety of vocal gain. Everything will shine at some point or another though.

I’m impressed with how well they can adjust the style by degrees, it’s such a dynamic sound for the genre. This is for fans of Death, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse and everything in between. You’re getting a decent amount of bang for your buck with this one, solid content as well as presentation. I’m keen.

9/10