COVENANT MODERN RUIN ALBUM PROGRESS PRODUCTIONS RELEASE: JANUARY 14, 2011 REVIEW: JANUARY 10, 2011

We’re facing a restructured Covenant on “Modern Ruin”, the first album with Haujobb’s Daniel Myer on board. Daniel has proven himself a master of production and electronic trickery, and fit in well here, providing his skills in a Covenant context. I think this album is stronger than "Skyshaper" from 2006, even though it is uneven at times. Covenant seem to have a fondness for songs that doesn’t really take you anywhere, like “Dynamo Clock” or “The Night”. However, they’ve seem to have mastered the slow building track skill elsewhere like on “The Beauty and the Grace”, which is a masterpiece. Slow and atmospheric it grows by adding guitars and strings, embedding the emotion towards the end.

I can see two obvious hit songs here (other than the excellent first single “Lightbringer” of course); the first being “Judge of My Domain” in classic Covenant EBM mode. The other is a bit more of a dark horse, but I have a feeling that “Beat the Noise” could set dance floors on fire everywhere. It’s got a dirty, distorted feel to it, but it’s still catchy.

So, "Modern Ruin" is better than the last album, but it’s also littered with so-so tracks, thus making it a bit hard to assess. It ends with finesse though, via the sublime “The Road”. I think it’s a step in the right direction for the band.

JOHAN CARLSSON