Review: Rotting Out - Ronin

I was pretty psyched on the promo track, “Reaper”, that Rotting Out dropped in 2019. It sounded like I would have thought a Rotting Out track would sound in the best way possible.

On April 10, 2020, Rotting Out followed suit by releasing “Ronin”. This album sounds like a Rotting Out album in the best way possible. Ronin features 10 anthmatic songs of punk inspired hardcore (or is it hardcore inspired punk). There’s sing alongs, fast parts, two step parts, mosh parts, everything you would expect from a band of this style. There’s cool vocal variances here and there that keep things interesting. The “singy” parts of “Unforgiven” are a great example of this.

Sometimes bands of this style don’t offer enough variety to make a full length interesting enough for me to make it the whole way through. That being said, I think Rotting Out did a really good job making an engaging record. The songs are crafted in a way that things are kept interesting. The track order is laid out in a way where you don’t find yourself asking “didn’t they just do this in the last song”.

The lyrics are very personal and cover the hardships of growing up the hard way. The lyrics are well written and provide insight to singer Walter Delgado’s experiences. The lyrics to “Boy” are particularly heavy.

I really like this album and suggest checking it out. It’s driving, energetic,and engaging. I’m psyched to skate to this once I’m allowed back at the skate ramp.I imagine these songs will translate nicely to a live setting, assuming live shows are something that will ever be able to happen again (thanks Covid). In the meantime, start learning the lyrics so you can scream them while you stage dive once we are able to be able all be in the same room again.

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