"Amidst Voices That Echo In Stone" is one of those records that shows promise for a band even if it falls a bit short of delivering all it could. OMINOUS RUIN are a Technical Death Metal band from San Francisco, California, and this is their full-length debut, following a series of demos, a single and EP and even a compilation release. Over the course of 9 tracks, the band supplies an almost non-stopping barricade of brutal, vicious and insanely complex Death Metal. It is a commendable effort, but one that shows its limitations.

The album begins in full-blown energy, with the noisy, brutal and intricate "Ritual". Its stop and start nature provides an interesting flow to the whole track, which will undoubtedly make headbanging a tad difficult even if the listener tries, moved by sheer excitement. "Ritual" bleeds right into "Attuned To The Chasm", that feels in a way a continuation of the same mood and some similar ideas. Andrew Baird's drums are the manic force behind this track and a lot of the songs in the record, lending so much needed ground to the shapeshifting song structures. Some gorgeous harmonized soloing lend the track a videogame soundtrack-like atmosphere, at least when it isn't crushing ears down. It may lean into shred fest territory at times, but always manages to retain its brutality.

"Deception" opens in a very mysterious way, with sparse use of clean-ish guitars. An outstanding, out of the blue shift occurs about two minutes in, turning explosive and noisy. Synth strings function as slight embellishments. Mitch Yoesle's bass work gives a center to the track, with a warm quality that lends the instrument an unusual personality. Playful in nature, it ebbs and flows. An early highlight of the record that makes the most of its extended runtime, being the second longest song, a little over six minutes.

"Chrysalis Of Flesh" and "A Feast For Shadows" come next, functioning as a bit of a palate cleanser mid-point through the record. The former mixes space-y sounds and alien guitar with jazzy and funky bass runs keeping things interesting especially being a track with little dynamism. Meanwhile, "A Feast For Shadows" is a steady riff fest. A straightforward instrumental that is over maybe a little too soon, but has to be commanded for not overstaying its welcome.

Beautiful cleans, with a ballad-esque feel, open the longest song on the record, "Labyrinthine Torment". Baird gets to shine in a slower but still complex way, laying down some nasty fills and setting up a moody groove that moves along the melody, at least for the first two minutes of the track before the band goes full Brutal Death Metal again. The tempo starts picking up as the song becomes more and more unhinged. An epic tune for sure.

"Consumed" and "Simulacra" add little new to the record, retreading ground already covered even if they are both nicely written songs, especially the former. "Simulacra" could certainly do with a little less repetition (and being two minutes shorter quite possibly).

The title track comes right at the end, and it might seem that OMINOUS RUIN decided to save the best for last. The band truly opens up here. Hypnotic and enigmatic, echo-ey guitars, at several points, they even sound slightly Flamenco-tingled. Every time these softer melodies get introduced, they quickly dissolve into a ruthless, vicious wall of sound with heavy riffs, frantic drumming and growls. "Amidst Voices That Echo In Stone" is a closer that fits the mood of the record and lets the band loose when it comes to shifting structure and playing with time signatures. Ends with a beautiful piano and synths ambience coda, bringing things to a subtle, even understated, end.

It is clear that OMINOUS RUIN is comprised of talented musicians that know their way around their instruments. The songwriting is also quite strong and it seems the band really took their time coming up with the tracks in this album. Yet, aside from a considerable lack of hooks which might not be necessary it is also hard to identify some of the tracks by how samey the album can sound. It does not help that a few tracks feel longer than they truly are ("Attuned To The Chasm", "Chrysalis Of Flesh") while others could do with some self-editing ("Simulacra").

Also, at times the band seems more preoccupied with how brutal or complex their sound is, or with how much it fits the mold of a scene, and do not let loose and have fun with the songs. When they do, the results are amazing, such as on "Deception", "Labyrinthine Torment" or the title track.

Overall, "Amidst Voices That Echo In Stone" is a solid first full-length and one that shows OMINOUS RUIN has a long road ahead of them and that something better might be around the corner. They deliver when it comes to crushing brutality, though they might have more than just that on store. Maybe next time around.