Album review: BENT SEA - The Dormant Ruin. By Mark Jenkins. Sinister, Complex Grindcore and Organic Violence.

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BENT SEA - The Dormant Ruin.
Album review: BENT SEA - The Dormant Ruin. By Mark Jenkins. Sinister, Complex Grindcore and Organic Violence.

**★★★★☆**




After fourteen years of underground mayhem and a significant hiatus, BENT SEA's supergroup status couldn't shield them from the pressure of delivering a proper full-length. The Dormant Ruin arrives as both vindication and evolution—a 33-minute cyclone that transforms their grindcore foundations into something far more sinister and complex.

The album's opening salvo, From The Beast's Mouth, immediately signals that this isn't the same band that unleashed Noistalgia over a decade ago. While Dirk Verbeuren's (Megadeth) drumwork retains its precision-guided brutality, there's a newfound architectural sophistication at play. The production courtesy of Daniel Bergstrand captures every blast beat and tremolo pick with crystalline clarity, yet maintains the grimy authenticity that made their earlier splits so compelling.

Sven de Caluwé's (Aborted) vocal performance spans the extreme spectrum with unsettling versatility. On tracks like Curtailer Of Conceit and Paragon Of Inhumanity, his death growls puncture through Shane Embury's (Napalm Death) bass thunder with surgical precision, while the black metal rasps on Below The Cold Void feel genuinely unhinged. The industrial elements—most prominent on Locked In Glitch—never feel tacked-on but rather emerge organically from the band's collective DNA.


The guest appearances serve the songs rather than derailing them. Kevin Sharp's contribution to My Fall adds a layer of weathered brutality that complements rather than overshadows the core trio. Similarly, John Cooke and Sylvain Coudret's appearances feel integrated into the album's narrative arc rather than mere studio novelties.

What sets The Dormant Ruin apart from contemporary grindcore releases is its commitment to genuine dissonance without sacrificing memorability. Tidal Fire and Sharpen The Blade showcase the band's ability to craft hooks within chaos—no easy feat when operating at these speeds and this level of aggression. The album's sequencing deserves particular praise; each track flows into the next with calculated momentum, building toward the apocalyptic title track that serves as both culmination and burial rite.




Lawrence Mackrory's mastering preserves the album's dynamic range without sacrificing impact. In an era of brick-walled extreme metal production, The Dormant Ruin breathes with organic violence. The quieter moments—brief as they are—provide essential contrast that makes the explosive passages hit with greater force.

The album's only very minor weakness lies in its occasionally overwhelming density. With twenty tracks in 33 minutes, some listeners(not me!) may find themselves suffering from stimulus overload by the midpoint. Tracks like Meat Trade Misery and Vermin Burning, while individually effective, blur together during concentrated listening sessions.

The Dormant Ruin succeeds because it respects grindcore's foundational elements while pushing relentlessly toward new territories. This isn't nostalgia masquerading as innovation—it's three veterans channelling decades of experience into something that feels both familiar and genuinely threatening. BENT SEA has crafted an album that honours the underground while staking claim to broader extreme metal territory.

Essential listening for anyone who believes grindcore still has frontiers to explore.

Standout Tracks: From The Beast's Mouth, My Fall, Paragon Of Inhumanity, The Dormant Ruin.

Out September 5, 2025:

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Reviewed by Mark Jenkins for Devil's Horns Zine. "Bringing you the music your parents warned you about since 2018 " PLEASE REMEMBER, SUPPORT THE ARTISTS (AND US) BY SPREADING THE WORD, FOLLOWING US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND REPOSTING OUR WORKS...SUPPORT THE UNDERGROUND AND OUR COMMUNITY. THERE ARE NO COMMERCIAL GAINS.


And: Music is not a commodity; it's a community. Your art should reflect your truth, not what others want to hear. Ian MacKaye. 


It’s like if you want to use this music purely as agro, then fine, because it is very fucking violent, aggressive music. It’s just that the common misconception is that I wanna go out there, or this music is made to go out there and fucking damage people. That’s the misconception. Justin Broadrick, Godflesh

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