Hail, you shadowed mourners of the Black Metal Archives—Sean here, still clawing through the mire of Mind Prisoner’s The Color of Ruin. Spun this today, and it’s like Portland’s damp chill seeped into my bones, dragging me down with six tracks of bleak, brooding weight. Caught wind of this duo via a late-night scroll through Spotify, released December 6, 2024, and it’s a slow descent worth savoring—let’s peel back the gloom and dig in!
Mind Prisoner took root in Oregon’s rain-soaked shadows in 2020, a two-man pact—Griffin Campbell (vocals, guitars, bass, drum programming) and Thomas Night (drums, synths, samples, vocals)—blending black metal’s frost with doom’s crushing heft. The Color of Ruin is their first full-length, a testament to misery forged in the Pacific Northwest’s damp heart.
Let’s take a look at some of the tracks!
“Soothsayer” creeps in like a fog rolling off the Willamette—guitars drone with a cold, shimmering edge, Griffin’s vocals are an anguished rasp that hooks me early. Thomas’s synths hum beneath, eerie and vast—I’m swaying, caught in its somber tide.
“The Color of Ruin” follows, a title track that grinds slow and heavy, riffs buckling under their own weight while drums pound like a distant collapse—my chest tightens, lost in its depth.
“Phantom Dreams” shifts the air, a blackened surge with vocals that fray into the void—damn, it’s a jolt that lingers.
“Nothing Comes After” stretches out nearly seven minutes, a sprawling elegy where guitars weave a mournful haze, synths swelling like a storm on the horizon—I’m nodding, entranced by its slow burn.
The duo’s sound is a cavernous wound—Griffin’s guitars, bass, and drum programming churn with raw despair, Thomas’s drums, synths, and samples layering a chilling expanse, his faint vocals adding a ghostly edge. It’s got echoes of Pallbearer’s doom-laden sorrow and Wolves in the Throne Room’s atmospheric sprawl, but with a shoegaze tint that’s pure Portland grit. The Color of Ruin is a heavy plunge—crank it, let it bury you, and join me in this dark embrace.
You bleak souls, drop your thoughts below—how did this album weigh on you? Stream it on Bandcamp and sink into the ruin!
Stay heavy, you dour wraiths, and keep the gloom alive!
RATING: 3.5 OUT OF 5
RATING SYSTEM:
- 0 – 1 Fucking shit.
- 1 – 2 Shit.
- 2 – 3 Not Bad Shit.
- 3 – 4 Pretty Good Shit.
- 4 – 5 Amazing Fucking Shit.
- 5 The Best Shit You Will Ever Hear.
