Released by Synthetic Symphony/SPV on January 14, the long-awaited album from COVENANT, “Modern Ruin” is the band’s ninth and probably the one which took the longest in the making. Five years after full-length “Skyshaper” and the live “In Transit”, COVENANT’s comeback is a fulgurating statement of their power of enthrallment on the scene. Hailed three months ago by the well-received single “Lightbringer” (feat. Necro Facility), the album, its deluxe release and the first single stay atop of sales charts and generate an incredible buzz.
Proof to the album’s success stands the album’s core of 11 tracks, forced into shape by the band’s trio: ESKIL SIMONSSON, DANIEL MYER, and JOAKIM MONTELIUS. What “Modern Ruin” does in effect, is similar to fusion cuisine: adding a pinch of darkwave to a broth of electro and future pop. It starts with an engaging intro, homonymous with the album title, and sets an alarming tone to what ensues. And it’s no wonder, since “Lightbringer” (feat. Necro Facility) stirs up next. It is a majestic, athletic track – with a lengthy and elaborate structure that not incidentally, we suppose, proposes a thematic cleansing: from shedding skin to burning down as a sacrifice, the listener is passed through a cleansing curtain that ensures their initiatory novitiate into the album.