Age of Ruin earns frequent comparisons to At the Gates and In Flames, leading many to categorize the group as a melodic death metal outfit. The band incorporates select death metal traits, such as bleak and unsettling lyrics paired with guttural, throat-ravaging growls, yet steers clear of the unadulterated grindcore intensity found on early Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Carcass, and Cancer releases. Whereas authentic grindcore avoids melody and maintains breakneck speeds, Age of Ruin varies its pacing and leans toward melodic structures; although certain vocal passages reach the extremity of Cannibal Corpse or Carcass, the underlying music aligns more closely with thrash acts like Megadeth, Anthrax, and Exodus. Numerous guitar riffs in the Age of Ruin catalog could fit seamlessly on early Testament albums.
The band originated in 1998 in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., with an initial roster featuring Derrick Kozerka on lead vocals, Daniel Fleming—previously of Jonas and Days Lost—on guitar, Chris Fleming on bass, and Patrick Owens on drums. Following distribution of the 1999 demo The Opium Dead, Age of Ruin self-released its debut full-length album, Black Sands of the Hourglass, in 2000. In 2002 the addition of guitarist Brian Kerley, formerly of Carved in Stone, shifted the lineup to a five-piece dual-guitar configuration that recorded the EP Autumn Lanterns for Tribunal Records. The Baltimore-based DFF imprint issued the EP The Longest Winter Woes in 2003, the same year the band tracked an unexpected cover of Bon Jovi’s 1980s pop-metal single “You Give Love a Bad Name,” which Tribunal included on its early-2004 reissue of Black Sands of the Hourglass.
Personnel shifts occurred during this period. After The Longest Winter Woes, Patrick Owens departed and was succeeded by Colin Kercz, formerly of the Maryland groups Haddonfield and Longshot. Chris Fleming exited in 2003, with Joe Scheibel stepping in on bass. January 2004 brought the departure of vocalist Kozerka, replaced by Ben Swan, previously a member of Samadhi. With Kozerka’s exit, Daniel Fleming remained the sole survivor of the original 1998 lineup. Early in 2004 Age of Ruin signed with Eulogy Recordings, a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based imprint, and began work on the full-length album The Tides of Tragedy.
