It’s possible humanity has exceeded its usefulness. Look around you and just see the things we’ve done to sicken this planet and destroy our natural surroundings because rich people who stand to make money told us to do that. Try to spend a few minutes on social media without trying to claw out your eyeballs in complete disgust. It’s futility from end to end.

NYC-based death metal killing machine Ruin Lust is trying to see that destruction through at a faster clip on their alarming fourth record “Dissimulant,” a record that is not trying to conceal its intent to strip humanity of all it has left. It’s mercy meted out through annihilation, and the band—guitarist/vocalist J. Wilson, guitarist/bassist S. Bennett, drummer/vocalist M. Rekevics—spends eight tracks and 31 minutes punishing with death metal that veers violently into war territory and black metal that’s less concerned with devilry and more invested in taking apart the scourge of humans one blast at as time.

“Eden” roars open with crazed guitars scurrying, blistering stomps viciously spreading the blood. The howls echo relentlessly, a maiming force that piles into guttural chaos, the guitars burning and bubbling flesh, crashing out at the end. “Imperium” dashes as the drums crush, torching mentalities, pounding howls making their mark. The drubbing and thrashing continues as the growls blaze, the intensity explodes, and the playing disappears into oblivion. “Clinamen” hammers away, the growls snarling beastlike, the leads heating up and ushering in total devastation. The guitar work tangles and tramples, opening body cavities and slaying, the playing bringing on a total attack that ends in ashes. “Thrall” immediately leaves everything in the dust, guitars churning and punishing, the assault making blood rocket through veins. The playing decimates everything in front of it, the drums explode like a nuclear assault, and the speed lathers with chaos and hellish passion.

The title track brings crushing noise, the growls working their way down your spine, the terror mauling as everything comes unglued. The playing becomes vile and evil, rampaging with storm-like power, raspy howls peeling flesh from bone. “Purge” comes on as a total onslaught, molten power flexing its muscles, eventually slowing into something heavier and more oppressive. Growls retch as spacey horrors are abound, drubbing and dragging you over the coals, spiraling out in echoes. “Infinite Regress” rings in the air before dragging in demolition, the growls pounding away at vulnerable wounds. The vocals push as the guitars slice, thrashing and blistering, dissolving in an acid bath. Closer “Chemical Wind” enters in a warped haze, sinister blackness spreading and sinking in its claws. Brutality increases as the growls clench their fists around throats, an ungodly force increases, and disorientation increases and slowly drags you into oblivion.

“Dissimulant” is utterly barbaric, an exercise in death metal terror that feels uncomfortable and unforgiving from the very start. Ruin Lust make the vitriol feel as genuine as any other band out there making such warped sounds, proving their dedication to the further erosion of our species. This is a raging fire of disgust that cannot be extinguished and that will consume you whole.

For more on the band, go here: https://ruinlust.bandcamp.com/album/sacrifice

To buy the album, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/collections/ruin-lust

For more on the label, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/