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Germany's The Ruins of Beverast has gotten a lot of positive press, especially here at The Metal Crypt. The band's fourth album, Blood Vaults – The Blazing Gospel of Heinrich Kramer (hereafter referred to as Blood Vaults) represented my first opportunity to give them a listen. To say that sole member Alexander von Meilenwald knows how to create atmosphere with his music is simply beyond reproach. His use of varying tempos, a variety of vocals and effects left me with a distinct feeling of unease every time I listened to Blood Vaults. The music is infused with a sense of dread that is enhanced by some truly disturbing delay effects on the vocals, especially on tracks like "III Malefica." Musically, Blood Vaults ranges from full-on Black Metal to spare guitars and keyboards. While the atmosphere of the album cannot be denied, I found the album to be overly long and some of the drawn-out, slower passages resemble incidental movie music as much as Black Metal. Combine that with the less than gripping songwriting and you end up with an album that is something of a chore to sit through.

If you enjoy music that leaves you feeling totally creeped out, pop on Blood Vaults and turn out the lights. It is a chilling listen but you'll probably have your fill long before its 78 minutes is up.