Band: RUTHLESS
Country: USA
Title: Evil Within
Label: Pure Steel Records
Year: 2019
Style: Power Metal

Review:
Although Ruthless was founded back in 1982, the band had a serious time off between 1990 and 2008; but nonetheless it's impressive to see a band with such a history behind still active on the battlefronts. This is the band's third full-length album, released 4 years distance from the previous, on the same label, Pure Steel, and is made of 9 tracks clocking a bit over 40 minutes of playing time. We're dealing here with traditional mid-tempo American Power Metal with occasional fast parts displaying good musicianship, a thirst for headbanging-friendly guitar riffs that are the dominant feature in Ruthless' music, upfront bass lines, organic sounding drums and a vocalist that may well be the trademark of the band, not overly-impressive, but perfect to remember the band upon. The two main problems I could find here are the somehow generic, "I've heard them before" guitar riffs that flooding Ruthless' music, and the lack of some really catchy choruses one can sing along with the band. I very much like the slow melodic parts where the music relies on enchanting guitar leads, a feature I enjoyed a lot in my teens and it seems I still do but haven't heard in a while. All in all a good album that but without something impressive apart for the band's long-lasting career and dedication which is truly something out of the ordinary, kudos to them for that.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
ruthlessmetal.com
puresteel-records.com