Their fifth full-length studio album, Throat Full Of Heart sees My Ruin back in fine form, making a brutally powerful noise that perfectly articulates and accompanies the furious sermons of Tairrie B.
The history of female performers in the metal genres does little to deflect accusations that heavy metal is (at best) subconsciously sexist and (at worst) deliberately misogynistic. With a few notable exceptions, the women of rock have been used as eye-candy selling points, their images exploited by the industry and consumed by an uncritical audience.
Tairrie B is undoubtedly one of those exceptions, and has used My Ruin as a vehicle for not only defying the expectations of the industry but speaking out against them as well. She’s a beautiful woman – but she’s beautiful on her own terms, and by her own standards.
Musically, My Ruin are heavy enough to put them well beyond the mainstream. Throat Full Of Heart is no exception, sounding much like the band’s preceding material but more polished, more economical, more focused.
Mid-paced bass-and-guitar mega-riffs throb and chug alongside a rock solid rhythm from the drumkit; there are elements of thrash and old-school metal at the core, with a hint of a bluesy stoner vibe mixed in. There’s raw and dirty southern-fried solo work from Mick Murphy, skilfully restrained and never resorting to fret-wank frippery; in between, harmonic pinches and lead flourishes add movement and dynamics to the My Ruin sonic juggernaut, one man easily filling the space that two lesser guitarists might cover between them.
But the true star of the show is Miss B herself, of course – and Throat Full Of Heart contains ten tracks of what sounds like the exorcism of personal demons. Tairrie has a gut-wrenching screaming style that makes a lot of male singers sound like wimps, not because she’s louder than them, but because you can hear that every word was written in blood and tears before being performed on stage.
Tairrie B means every word she says, and that commitment – that channelled rage and fury – enables her lyrics to lash out with the strength of ten men.
You could pick any track from Throat Full Of Heart as exemplary of the My Ruin rage. Let’s take “Skeleton Key” – an angry indictment of indentikit rock-stardom, a middle finger raised defiantly to the corporate masters who bend musicians to fit into the mould of the moment:
“sacrifice your self-respect / you’re just dying to connect”
The music industry isn’t the only target for Miss B’s vitriol, however; religious piety finds itself in the firing line a couple of times, and there must be a few former lovers who are well aware that - in Tairrie’s hands, at least - the microphone is mightier than the sword.
It’s a shame that My Ruin have never been more successful than they are – perhaps Tairrie B’s outspokenness has held her band back from greater things. But they’ve always had a strong following in the UK, possibly because of that very same refusal to compromise, and those fans will not be disappointed with this latest outpouring.
It’s great to know there’s a band for female metal fans to identify with positively. Throat Full Of Heart provides those girls – and guys as well – ten savage new anthems of defiance.
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Posted in Music reviews |
Tags: blues, metal, Southern metal
