It’s not often that I hear an album that seems to defy categorization. Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite is one of them. The name of the artist is The Ruins Of Beverast, and if you haven’t heard of them, it’s time you did. I have not let a day pass without listening to this album in its entirety at least once over the last few weeks. Did you enjoy Aeternus‘ …And So The Night Became? How about Disembowelment‘s Transcendence Into The Peripheral? Well, Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite, among other things, combines elements of these 2 brilliant releases and adds its own dark twist.

What really boggles the mind is that The Ruins of Beverast is ONE GUY. I have tried to write classical music and various compositions for years, and to achieve what this album achieves is quite a feat. Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite is sheer genius. It is easily THE best album I’ve heard in over 10 years. It combines droning, doom/black guitar passages, samples, clear vocals, and an atmosphere almost unrivaled in the current metal scene. The growls and screams on this recording are powerful to say the least, and the clear vocals are more than tolerable; they add a much-needed diversity to the album’s sound.

I’m including one of the songs in this review to give you a glimpse of what you are in for when you hear this. It’s called “Mount Sinai Moloch” and it’s a fucking monster! By the way, at the end of this track, the clear vocals are saying: “In profane and moribund solitude, thou shall vegetate.” Haha! That’s fucking brilliant! If you don’t get it by the riff at 4:21 into the song, just turn it off, slap on any various grind CD and enjoy listening to some 1-minute songs with about as much depth as a puddle… and go fuck yourself, too, lover-boy.

One thing I noticed about this recording is I can’t remember the last time I haven’t had to adjust the EQ on my music player. The album is recorded flawlessly. Unarguably the best release of 2009. Fuck that, the best release of the past few years, easily. This stuff makes me want to stop writing and playing music. I can’t fathom competing with this kind of artistic genius. Absolutely essential.

Review byDamian