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RUTHLESS
The Fallen

Fireflash (2024)
Rating: 8/10

Los Angeles, California-based metallers Ruthless may not be familiar to everyone but their 1985 debut EP Metal Without Mercy, followed a year later by full-length album Discipline Of Steel, were cult gems.

The band formed in 1982 and original frontman Sammy DeJohn remains. The combo has certainly had its ups and downs having split in 1988 only to return in 2008 which has resulted in a few line-up changes. Drummer Bob Guitrau joined Ruthless just before the band split but features again here alongside bassist Sandy K. Vasquez, who joined in 2016, and guitarist Glen Paul, who was recruited in 2021.

In 2015 Ruthless released the solid They Rise opus, which was followed four years later with 2019’s Evil Within. Both albums were straightforward heavy metal compositions but neither garnered much attention, sadly. And so we come to The Fallen (cool cover art), and it’s an album that boasts some serious balls of steel.

DeJohn shows his variety and power as the band drifts between Jag Panzer, Dio and Saxon territory, and that’s no bad thing. This is a very tight opus as one would expect from such seasoned professionals and DeJong leads his troops through varying punchy anthems, the most notable being ‘No Mercy’ which had me reaching for my chainmail, while closer ‘End Times’ is a smoking ballad.

Back in the 80s it would have been so easy to have slotted Ruthless alongside the likes of Helstar and Jag Panzer, but it’s great that the band still strives for such metallic power rather than returning with something all too sanitised and tepid. I guess it’s Sammy DeJong’s passion and conviction which drives the Ruthless sound into the ears of us rockers but there are also sizzling riffs aplenty alongside a Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) bass style and those clinical drums.

You’ll hear a lot of new bands trying to ape the Ruthless authenticity and to no avail, and yet, frustratingly, they may receive more exposure and attention. Ruthless show the pretenders how it’s done though; rushes of speed metal exhibited on the title track, slabs of doom on ‘Thulsa Doom’, and ‘Order Of The Dragon’ with its Saxon vibe.

The Fallen is everything you want from a heavy metal album so take a sip and then a trip into a nostalgic storm of swirling anthems and bombastic bellowing.

Neil Arnold

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