Heres the review of Born to Ruin I from Tighttothenail.com REBLOG IT POR FAVOR
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The 5 year gap since 2008's Frailty has seemingly done nothing to cool the inferno that burns at the heart of The Banner. Following break ups, drummer issues and lost hard drives they return with Born To Ruin, a 4 track cassette demo and the first in a series, and on it they're displaying a rage and vitriolic fury here that would put most bands who are far more wet behind the ears to shame. Always a band who seemed to take leaps forward between each release, it's quite fitting that they're lurching back into life with a demo; rejuvenated and reinvigorated isn't the word; as triumphant returns go, The Banner have smashed it out of the park, not to mention adding a few more aspects to their sound.
The most dangerous weapon in their arsenal is undoubtedly their frontman. Now, there's angry vocalists and then there's Joey Southside. With the rest of The Banner razing the earth around him with a punishing, timeless, metallic hardcore onslaught, Southside is free to stalk this wasteland like a man possessed. He was recently described to me by a member of Withdrawal as “a true degenerate Jersy goth”, which is pretty accurate. Lyrics hinge on isolation, a detachment from humanity, damnation and at times he paints a picture of almost supernatural transformation (“Skins gone pale, I'm the king of night” from 'Lilith'). Which may sound a bit purple-and-black on the surface, but Southside's conviction is remarkable, with each word spat from his lips hitting like a brick to your forehead.
It's not all Southside's show though, with the musicians behind him belting out rock solid metallic hardcore that stacks up with the best of their contemporaries. Tight, precise and swerving outright technical wankery in favour of a bludgeoning heaviness, The Banner also occasionally dip into blackened melody too which keeps it punchy and exhilarating. Don't expect clean singing though, as the vocals continue to rage like a dying sun. That is, until Southside unleashes his inner Pete Steele for some graveyard baritone on 'Negative Zone'. It's a risky manoeuvre, but as The Banner are clearly skilled in their ability to implement subtle changes to their sound it's pulled off perfectly. So much so that when they drop in a Zola Jesus song to close proceedings, you might be fooled into thinking that they've gone full crypt-core and that it's one of their own."
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