Interview with doom death metal from Romania - IN RUINS.
Answered St. Oliver (drums), thank you!
Recenze/review - IN RUINS - We Are All to Perish (2026):
Ave IN RUINS! Greetings to the Romanian underground. I hope everything is going well over there. It should be you’ve released the first fantastic full-length album of your career this year. I have to admit, it literally pinned me to the wall. It’s dark, energetic, gloomy, and cuts like a sharp knife. It’s very clear that you’ve done a great job and brought a lot of talent to the table. How do you see the new album in relation to your previous EP? Where did you want to go with it, and how do you think the recordings differ?
We’re glad you liked our album. We’re also satisfied with the result—we believe we’ve released a strong record, and the reviews so far confirm that. The music on this album is a clear departure from what we did on our first release the “Ruthless Portrait” EP. This time, it’s no longer about doom-death metal, but funeral doom metal. Setting these labels aside, this new material is more atmospheric, carries more emotion, while the lyrical themes tend to remain consistent. As with the previous release, we knew exactly what we were aiming for—we had a very clear vision of what we wanted to achieve. This helped define the final product very well.
“We Are All to Perish” embodies all the attributes of good death and funeral doom metal. For me personally, it’s an album I love coming back to. How did it come about? How does IN RUINS compose new material?
Everything started in the summer of 2024, when St. Oliver accidentally discovered Yesenin’s poetry in an antiquarian bookstore. After an initial reading of the poems from the two volumes he purchased, several poems particularly stood out, which sparked a desire to learn more about the poet’s life. Once we discovered these details and saw the photograph depicting Yesenin dead, the concept for this new In Ruins album began to take shape in our minds. We selected four of those poems to serve as inspiration for the music that Urmuz would later compose.
Who is responsible for the sound? I have to say, the sound literally sends chills down my spine. It keeps making me turn up the volume on my stereo. They’ve created a sound for you that’s urgent, raw, and at the same time dark and animalistic. How was it working with them? Which studio did you record in, and how did everything go?
The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Andrei Jumugă (our former bandmate) at Consonance Studio in Timișoara, Romania. Working with him is always a pleasure. He’s someone with vast experience both as a musician and as a person. What’s great and adds a strong professional touch is the level of involvement from the studio. In our case, Andrei provided ideas and suggestions that helped shape the material in the direction we wanted.
An integral part and a sort of bonus for fans today is the CD. You’re releasing it on Meuse Music Records, and it features a macabre cover. It depicts Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin. Why him, specifically? Did his poems and life influence you in any way?
Our first EP, “Ruthless Portrait,” was also released on CD we still have a few copies available for those interested. The major difference is that “We Are All to Perish” was released under the Belgian label Meuse Music Records, with whom we have an excellent collaboration.
The photograph on the album cover depicts Yesenin after he took his own life in the Angleterre Hotel in Leningrad, not before writing a final poem in his own blood. It is “Farewell,” and its verses appear in the last track of our album. The image may be shocking to some, but we believe that this is only because we are deeply attached to life and do not understand death we have the instinct to avoid looking at it, to refuse to see it. Ultimately, the cover image completes the concept of this album.
Yesenin’s lyrics and the emotions they convey formed the foundation of the musical composition. It feels as though every line he wrote consumed his life and shortened the distance separating him from death. The tragic substance and the overwhelming pain derived from these verses made us believe that funeral doom was the most fitting musical expression.
I’ve been wandering the underground scene for over thirty years, and to be honest, I don’t know that many Romanian bands. How do you perceive your scene, the fans, and the labels? What about concerts? And how is funeral doom metal doing over there?
The Romanian metal scene has grown in recent years not rapidly, but steadily. The new generation supports the scene by attending concerts, buying albums, and, not least, by sharing music on social media. Posting live performances is currently one of the most common forms of support, not just in Romania.
There are more and more concerts now, making it difficult to find the perfect time window for something like a mini-tour. After the COVID pandemic, both audiences and bands have wanted to enjoy this freedom of experiencing music outside the home as much as possible. This has led to overcrowded concert schedules everywhere.
Funeral doom is not very widely explored by Romanian bands, but whenever it is adopted as a style, the reactions are very positive.
“We Are All to Perish” is an album with a very special atmosphere. Melancholy meets sadness here, but also something else something interesting, mysterious. It’s as if your history and nature have been imprinted on the music. Am I wrong? What are the lyrics about, and who wrote them? Where did they draw inspiration from?
As mentioned earlier, the lyrics of the songs are actually four poems written by Yesenin. They represent a deep meditation on the irreversible passage of time and the acceptance of death. Within them, we find regret for youth, love for nature and simple life, and a preparation for the “great passage,” all infused with a sense of existential exhaustion.
You play old-school-influenced doom death metal. These days, a band can’t really avoid comparisons, but I’d be interested to know how the idea to form IN RUINS actually came about, who your role models were and are, and where you want to take the band? Are you tempted by big international festivals, for example? Are you willing to go on tour with a more famous band?
The idea to form In Ruins appeared in 2021 and was St. Oliver’s way of fulfilling a teenage dream to play original music on a metal album. He asked Andrei Jumugă if he would be willing to compose songs for a doom project, and that’s how the five tracks on the “Ruthless Portrait” EP came to life. Once the instrumental part was arranged, a fitting voice was needed, and that’s when Urmuz joined he had been Andrei’s bandmate for many years in several bands (Blutrină, Mirthless, Ordinul Negru).
We believe In Ruins will function more as a studio project rather than a band focused on festivals or touring. Our personal lives and Urmuz’s extensive musical activity don’t leave us with much free time.
When I started my website ten years ago, I had a vision that I would try to support bands that I felt weren’t getting much attention. To let the world know about them. I think I’m doing pretty well at it, at least judging by the feedback. How do you approach promotion? Do you leave it to the label, or do you send CDs out for reviews yourselves? For example, I buy albums that I really enjoy. How about you? Are you also fans who like to support your peers? Do you go to concerts? Do you party?
Considering that, in our case, promotion exists more online than physically, it’s necessary to have a solid plan for how you want to promote your music. There are many bands and labels doing this very well, so you need to be at least as good for your music to reach listeners. Our label has done an excellent job with promotion, and we thank them again on this occasion. Like you, we support the bands we enjoy as much as we can we go to their concerts and buy their merchandise (music, T-shirts, etc.).
On the one hand, a band starting out today has plenty of ways to make a name for itself, but on the other hand, there are a huge number of bands out there, and fans get lost in the crowd. A lot of people just download MP3s from the internet and, instead of going to a concert, prefer to spew venom on Facebook. How does modern technology affect you, as IN RUINS? What do you think about downloading music, Google metalists, streaming music, etc.?
Modern technology has radically transformed how bands operate today, shifting from an era of record sales to an economy based on live experiences and digital loyalty. Piracy has probably declined with the rise of streaming platforms, but listening on these platforms often supports the platforms themselves more than the bands, so the financial impact remains a major challenge.
It’s true that technology has made metal more accessible than ever, but it has also forced bands to become content creators and sellers of experiences music is now more like a “business card” that attracts fans to concerts and merchandise stands.
I like to ask musicians what death/doom metal means to them. How would they define it—is it more of a philosophy and lifestyle for them, or “just” a way to relax? What does it mean to you? How do you perceive and experience it?
For St. Oliver, In Ruins is quite a personal musical project, serving as a way to approach subjects he resonates with topics he sometimes also explores through photography. We are involved in many projects, both musical and personal. For the most part, these are forms of art through which we express our ideas and emotions. That is what In Ruins represents.
Finally, a classic but important question. What does IN RUINS have planned for the coming months? Where can we see you in concert? If you have a message for fans, labels, or promoters, this is the place…
We are happy with what we have achieved so far. We are trying to respond to as many interviews as possible and to make In Ruins’ music visible. This is also happening thanks to our label, which has supported us from the very beginning. We believe that at some point there will also be a few In Ruins concerts we want that as well.
Thank you very much for the interview. I wish not only the new album great success but also that your fan base grows as much as possible. I look forward to seeing you live somewhere, and I wish you all the best both musically and personally. I’m going to blast “We Are All to Perish” in my head again!
We also thank you for the opportunity to do this interview. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that your art is appreciated.
https://meusemusicrecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-ruins-we-are-all-to-perish-mmr069
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