I'd like to get one thing out of the way,John Zorn(NYC composer/sax player/record label owner)DID NOT create Ruins.Nor Boredoms.Nor Melt Banana or any other more popular weird Japanese band.Through his label he has helped some bands get easier exposure in the West,but Ruins,and Boredoms were active long before they ever met Zorn or set foot in his studio.

It just annoys me that people dismiss these interesting groups as "some John Zorn creation",or they're disappointed that it doesn't sound like Zorn,or Mike Patton.Leave it alone folks,it's ok if you found out about these bands through other musicians,but that doesn't mean they owe their sound to said musicians,or should be dissed for NOT sounding like them!!!!


This album came after Burning Stone,and it sounds fairly similar,but here Yoshida&Masuda stretch out even more.

While it probably has nothing to do with sounding anything like him,John Cage has the album dedicated to him.That may be SOME inclination of the strangeness to ensue here.

In a way,there is a little more focus,or perhaps,consistency from song to song on this album than Burning Stone.The songs here seem more complex and most of the songs go through many mutations and have odd time signatures.It just seems Ruins were inspired to be even more experimental on this cd.

Although I suspect most of this was planned out,it does have a sort of loose,improv feel to some of it,with Masuda on bass playing around with more textures and heavy walls of thick distortion.While the music on here may not be technically difficult,it does require precision,which Yoshida and Masuda certainly do display.

My uncle gave me this CD and John Zorn's "Naked City," after I played him Fantomas (a CD everyone should own) for the first time . Amazing. At first, I was just plain confused, but I quickly started seeing structure in the apparent chaos of this CD. Mind altering stuff...being a musician, it slightly tweaked the way I approach music. I've only heard Amazon's samples of "Symphonica," but I have to go get it soon.

Being a fan of John Zorn in all his incarnations, I accidentally ran across this CD when I noticed it was published under Zorn's Tzadik label. Man, was I ever pleased. Ruins has created one of the few listening experiences that can truly be said to take music to another exciting realm. Two men comprise Ruins-a drummer and bassist- who both sing as well as create frantic, schizophrenic tempos rich in textures and technical expertise. Hyderomastgroningem is definitely not for the faint of heart nor soft of ear. In addition to their rich musical landscapes, Ruins has taken their branch of progressive hard core one step further by adding some of the most intriguing lyrics- words in a language of their own making. It is a rhythmic and intelligent-and eventually "understandable"- tongue that only helps to augment the band's credibility as true innovators. Make sure your copy has them printed. You're going to WANT/NEED to read them.