Hymns From The Hills
Poison Ruïn
Hymns From the Hills is the 2026 full‑length from Philadelphia’s Poison Ruïn, released on Relapse Records as a follow‑up to 2023’s Härvest and positioned as a major expansion of their medieval‑tinged punk sound. The record keeps their established blend of deathrock, post‑punk, crust and black‑metal edges, but opens it up with clearer production, broader dynamics, and a more “epic” sense of songcraft that lets the riffs, synths, and occasional harmonica feel bigger without losing grit. Lyrically, frontman Mac Kennedy continues to use fantasy and historical imagery—fortresses, citadels, pilgrimages, spectres—as allegories for cycles of exploitation, burnout, and resistance in the present, extending the band’s mix of cynicism and defiant bravado.
Sequenced as a continuous journey, the album moves from a keyboard‑led “Intro” into “Lily of the Valley,” a gloomy, Killing Joke‑ish post‑punk anthem, and the sprinting title track “Hymn From the Hills,” whose mournful harmonica rides over charging drums and guitars. Mid‑album cuts like “Eidolon,” “Howls From the Citadel,” “Pilgrimage,” “Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)” and “Turn To Dust” toggle between d‑beat hardcore, dark street‑punk and wave‑inflected atmospherics, while “Serpent’s Curse,” instrumental “Sleeping Giant,” “Crescent Sun,” and black‑metal‑blasting closer “The Standoff” push into more overtly metal and even NWOBHM‑shaded territory. Critics characterize Hymns From the Hills as a bold step forward: still raw and unpolished, but more varied, spacious and immersive, the kind of dungeon‑fogged punk record meant to be heard front‑to‑back rather than chopped into singles.
Hymns From the Hills is the 2026 full‑length from Philadelphia’s Poison Ruïn, released on Relapse Records as a follow‑up to 2023’s Härvest and positioned as a major expansion of their medieval‑tinged punk sound. The record keeps their established blend of deathrock, post‑punk, crust and black‑metal edges, but opens it up with clearer production, broader dynamics, and a more “epic” sense of songcraft that lets the riffs, synths, and occasional harmonica feel bigger without losing grit. Lyrically, frontman Mac Kennedy continues to use fantasy and historical imagery—fortresses, citadels, pilgrimages, spectres—as allegories for cycles of exploitation, burnout, and resistance in the present, extending the band’s mix of cynicism and defiant bravado.
Sequenced as a continuous journey, the album moves from a keyboard‑led “Intro” into “Lily of the Valley,” a gloomy, Killing Joke‑ish post‑punk anthem, and the sprinting title track “Hymn From the Hills,” whose mournful harmonica rides over charging drums and guitars. Mid‑album cuts like “Eidolon,” “Howls From the Citadel,” “Pilgrimage,” “Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)” and “Turn To Dust” toggle between d‑beat hardcore, dark street‑punk and wave‑inflected atmospherics, while “Serpent’s Curse,” instrumental “Sleeping Giant,” “Crescent Sun,” and black‑metal‑blasting closer “The Standoff” push into more overtly metal and even NWOBHM‑shaded territory. Critics characterize Hymns From the Hills as a bold step forward: still raw and unpolished, but more varied, spacious and immersive, the kind of dungeon‑fogged punk record meant to be heard front‑to‑back rather than chopped into singles.
Hymns From The Hills
Poison Ruïn
Hymns From the Hills is the 2026 full‑length from Philadelphia’s Poison Ruïn, released on Relapse Records as a follow‑up to 2023’s Härvest and positioned as a major expansion of their medieval‑tinged punk sound. The record keeps their established blend of deathrock, post‑punk, crust and black‑metal edges, but opens it up with clearer production, broader dynamics, and a more “epic” sense of songcraft that lets the riffs, synths, and occasional harmonica feel bigger without losing grit. Lyrically, frontman Mac Kennedy continues to use fantasy and historical imagery—fortresses, citadels, pilgrimages, spectres—as allegories for cycles of exploitation, burnout, and resistance in the present, extending the band’s mix of cynicism and defiant bravado.
Sequenced as a continuous journey, the album moves from a keyboard‑led “Intro” into “Lily of the Valley,” a gloomy, Killing Joke‑ish post‑punk anthem, and the sprinting title track “Hymn From the Hills,” whose mournful harmonica rides over charging drums and guitars. Mid‑album cuts like “Eidolon,” “Howls From the Citadel,” “Pilgrimage,” “Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)” and “Turn To Dust” toggle between d‑beat hardcore, dark street‑punk and wave‑inflected atmospherics, while “Serpent’s Curse,” instrumental “Sleeping Giant,” “Crescent Sun,” and black‑metal‑blasting closer “The Standoff” push into more overtly metal and even NWOBHM‑shaded territory. Critics characterize Hymns From the Hills as a bold step forward: still raw and unpolished, but more varied, spacious and immersive, the kind of dungeon‑fogged punk record meant to be heard front‑to‑back rather than chopped into singles.
Hymns From the Hills is the 2026 full‑length from Philadelphia’s Poison Ruïn, released on Relapse Records as a follow‑up to 2023’s Härvest and positioned as a major expansion of their medieval‑tinged punk sound. The record keeps their established blend of deathrock, post‑punk, crust and black‑metal edges, but opens it up with clearer production, broader dynamics, and a more “epic” sense of songcraft that lets the riffs, synths, and occasional harmonica feel bigger without losing grit. Lyrically, frontman Mac Kennedy continues to use fantasy and historical imagery—fortresses, citadels, pilgrimages, spectres—as allegories for cycles of exploitation, burnout, and resistance in the present, extending the band’s mix of cynicism and defiant bravado.
Sequenced as a continuous journey, the album moves from a keyboard‑led “Intro” into “Lily of the Valley,” a gloomy, Killing Joke‑ish post‑punk anthem, and the sprinting title track “Hymn From the Hills,” whose mournful harmonica rides over charging drums and guitars. Mid‑album cuts like “Eidolon,” “Howls From the Citadel,” “Pilgrimage,” “Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)” and “Turn To Dust” toggle between d‑beat hardcore, dark street‑punk and wave‑inflected atmospherics, while “Serpent’s Curse,” instrumental “Sleeping Giant,” “Crescent Sun,” and black‑metal‑blasting closer “The Standoff” push into more overtly metal and even NWOBHM‑shaded territory. Critics characterize Hymns From the Hills as a bold step forward: still raw and unpolished, but more varied, spacious and immersive, the kind of dungeon‑fogged punk record meant to be heard front‑to‑back rather than chopped into singles.