Modern Ruin [Import]

Covenant | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: 101 DISTRIBUTION
• ASIN: B002ZDOXW6
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,301 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

"Modern Ruin" is the latest chapter of Covenant's epic adventure in time and space. Ever a band that has consistently made references to being in motion, physical and mental travel, exploration of the hidden and the unknown. And again they have wondrous tales to tell us. Imagine a broken escalator coming up through the underbrush of a forest, stretching towards the treetops, no second floor left to receive its long-gone passengers. In the background, among the trees, you can make out the steel skeleton of what was once a great building, perhaps the transit hall of an airport. Once this was a busy hub filled with people going places. Now Mother Nature is recycling the remains, in her infinitely slow but irresistible way. What happened here? How did it happen? Or, perhaps, could it be that nothing ever did happen the way it was intended to? Those are among the questions asked by Covenant on their 7th studio album "Modern Ruin". A title that implies a whole range of possible scenarios: a romantic lament over an epoch of optimism; a sense of imminent doom; futuristic archaeology; a cheeky comment on the state of the modern world. What does the band think? They won't tell. So we're left to explore for ourselves and there is a lot to discover among the ruins. As you travel through the ever-changing soundscape of "Modern Ruin" you get pummeled by frantic beats, lured astray by soothing melodies, drowned in the static noise of furious machines, gently carried along the streams of unknown waveforms, confused by contradictions. But you're never completely lost. There are familiar landmarks as well. They may not look exactly like they used to, but enough to guarantee safe navigation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A frustrating, but ultimately satisfying album, February 8, 2011

By 

Herbert West (The Rabbit Hole) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Ruin (Audio CD)

It's hard to believe its been 5 years since the last Covenant record. I consider myself a bit biased, as I feel the band's pinnacle record is still Northern Night, which is a very somber and slow record compared to their dancier records like Skyshaper and United States of Mind.

I felt that Skyshaper was a mixed bag with a few strong tracks, but loaded with filler too. I had hoped that Modern Ruin would be greatness from start to finish. Unfortunately, it too is loaded with filler, with a handful of truly great tracks.

First, Lightbringer is a really good track, I'm just not a fan of the Necro Facility vocalist adding his part. What would have been a great dancy futurepop classic, is marred by this stranger's vocals stealing the limelight from Eskil. It feels more like a remix than a Covenant original.

Judge of my Domain is a great track with Joachim's robotic vocals blending perfectly with Eskil's soaring hook in the chorus. Not much to say other than its a super dancy melodic Covenant song that you would expect to find on their records. Reminds me of 20Hz from Skyshaper, but not as epic.

Dynamo Clock. Eh, its just there. Some rather uninspired vocals from Eskil on this track. Its really just a track that I could see filling a dance floor and doing nothing else. No melodic hook and too noisy in parts.

The Beauty & The Grace is probably the best track on the record. Epic chorus, soaring melody throughout. It builds to a lovely crescendo and has great vocals from Eskil. Classic Covenant as we now expect from them.

Get On is another classic Covenant track with a killer retro keyboard hook that reminds me of something OMD would pull off. Simple yet effective lyrics and vocals. Really atmospheric too. Reminds me of Pulse from Skyshaper.

Worlds Collide is a good track. I don't know why I like it to be honest. It feels like a track from Northern Lights a bit. Again, this track is kind of just "there" with simple lyrics and melodies. However, I still think its one of the stronger tracks

In The Night is useless. Distorted, slowed down vocals which do nothing other than make the listener laugh as they wonder what Covenant was going for here. Doesn't even feel like a real song.

Beat The Noise is another dancefloor filler in case you didnt get enough of that from Dynamo Clock. Simple vocals from Eskil unfortunately. Almost completely percussive heavy, or at least to the point that I cant remember any hooks in the track.

The Road is a good closer track. Way better than the one from Skyshaper, but nowhere near as good as Atlas from Northern Lights. Its a slow haunting track, but what I think it really does is remind the listener how this album ended just a little too soon with so many filler tracks in front of it.

I wont even mention Kairos or Modern Ruin 1 & 2. They are filler. Period

So, in the end I give it four stars mostly because I still love this band. Sadly, it probably deserves 3 at best. After 5 years and many troubles with labels, I feel they really could have crafted a truly epic album, instead of a handful of really good tracks. The presence of Daniel Meyer (Haujobb) in the band isnt felt in my opinion. Not sure if thats a good thing or not. Covenant had filler before he joined, and they still do now.

Still, I'm happy this album is finally out and the tracks I like I REALLY like so its no loss to me. I listen to hundreds of different artists and Covenant is just one of them. Diehard fans will still likely be disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just Sound Effects; Very Little Substance, November 14, 2011

By 

Kathleen McGrath (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Modern Ruin (MP3 Download)

I've been a HUGE Covenant fan for the last five albums, but with this one they have fallen from great heights. Of course, all albums have some major hits and a few misses, but this one is mostly misses IMO.

I put off buying this album since it came out because I heard a few track on YouTube and was so un-impressed. I finally bought it hoping that maybe listening to the album in its entirety, it would make sense. It doesn't.

Lightbringer could be a good song, but it's far too poppy for my taste. Beat the Noise has a great beat, but the lyrics are repetitive and boring. Judge of My Domain is a great song. That's the only one off of this album I have any desire to listen to.

If you like "soundscapes" and artsy music and the like, you will enjoy this album. I like profound lyrics, moving beats and music with a purpose, so I didn't care for this album one bit.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great album in the Northern Lights, Skyshaper vein, February 9, 2011

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Ruin (Limited Edition) (Audio CD)

covenant is an amazing band with a poerful array of procs. I personally find them one of the more listenable things that really catches me right out of the gate, and I have to attribute that to a few reasons. There are the vocals that are amazing and there are also the beats, and those range from emotive to something powered by a really amazing beat. Over the last three albums (counting this one) this has been the case, and I really like that. There is something in there that reminds me of Depeche Mode in a sense, but it also belongs to them and them alone. Still, I do not hold that view.

Some complaints have been leveled against Covenant in the past, but many of these things are attributed to all bands loking for their distinction. The claims have been one of the band becoming more mainstreamed, with them losing the feel they had on albums like Sequencer and adopting a sound like the one found on Northern Lgihts and, to a little elsser degree, Skyshaper. While i think albums like Europa and older albums like Sequencer were unique, there is something about the new covenant that is amazing. audience. With that, an audience grows but some people are not hapy. Still things do change.

If you have heard the last albums, you have a sense of what to expect. Lightbringer is a sound with a nice beat and lyrics, and this (which was the first single) is what the album hinges on. It has some nice loops and a lot of direction, making it something you can move to. There are also counterbeats to that, slow places in the motions, and i enjoy that equally as well. The emotive side here is one you can hear int he sounds that the lead always makes, and you really witness it when he is singing with impact instead of singing with instruments in tow. It all amazes like the other albums have been doing now.

There is something aobut the band and the direciton they have now that makes them really easy to plug into. It is nice to have, and it is a pleasure to esperience. Older fans know what I mean by this, and the album will not suprise. Really old fans thinking aobut returning because they may have heard about differences in this - it is not a reutrn and that is why I mentioned it. Still, it is covenant. Personally, I fgive it almost a 4.5, almost enough to be a 5 but not quite.That siad, it is well worth obtaining.