Metalcore is a term used quite often in today's music world, and in many circles it has become less a signifying style as it is a mockery of the music being described, much like 'nu-metal' in the waning years of the 20th century. What was once a fresh fusion of equally vicious aural arrangements has eroded into a cesspool of at best, overzealous Scandinavian assimilations and at worst heirs apparent to 80's cock rock. Age Of Ruin have thus far weaved their way through their cluttered surroundings and offered a sturdy ship built on savagely metallic hardcore with the Swedish touch, but with the introduction of former Samadhi vocalist Ben Swan and a new album dubbed "The Tides Of Tragedy", these Washington D.C. stalwarts risk being washed away.

Age Of Ruin have largely been a success in the metal underground due to the juxtaposition between melodic metalcore musicianship and singer Derrick Kozerka's rotting corpse vocal approach. The venomous exorcisms of sound Kozerka emitted were throaty and unpolished, pushing a death metal edge to the band's otherwise traditional metal exterior. Since his departure the group have opted to distance themselves from the over-the-top growl and have instead enlisted Swan, and while he certainly meshes with his fellow musicians, the album suffers from sounding all too familiar. Jill Jamshidnejad's string arrangements on "Dawn" and "A Portrait Of Solemn Seas" are breathtaking and bookend the record superbly, unfortunately what falls in between is a mish mash of average metalcore. Swan's melodic abilities are formidable, but it is clear that he's been studying the likes of Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall on how to be a frontman with dynamic appeal. It's a shame that his rigid duplication of those very vocalists limits him from forming his own identity, a fact that lingers throughout the album. Halfway through and it becomes clear that Age Of Ruin have chosen to look for recognition by sounding exactly like their successful peers rather than blazing a new trail of metallic brutality.

By removing that death metal edge, Age Of Ruin has unintentionally become every other metalcore band currently assaulting America. Melodic guitars give way to expected breakdowns, subdued harmonies mutate into symphonic Gothenburg crescendos. While the group play with a supernatural energy and the album benefits from Ken Olden's crystal clear production, it is hard to distinguish Age Of Ruin from any other metalcore hopeful. If there was a rulebook that underlined what is necessary to be a hardcore/metal band in 2004, Age Of Ruin would be following every single word with bated breath. The end result is an album that should please herds of sheep but is sorely lacking in the originality department, and given the potential these men had, that is a tragedy indeed.