Michal Brodka

the digital dawn is upon us and who else knows it better than the man behind the instrumental rock band Ruined Machines. "Paths to a Digital Dawn" is the latest effort from this New Jersey based band, who truly surprised me with the new opus. a much more mature effort than its predecessor, "Paths to a Digital Dawn" is a solid album, filled with impressive guitar work, many beautiful melodic passages, and a truly timeless sound.

the album starts of with a 'greeting' and quickly gives you a small taste with 'her eyes hold poison'. the title track moves towards the Ruined Machines we were all introduced to a year ago, but much more refined and filled with many memorable melodies. the album progresses on with a literal blast off in 'A Milestone, Your Every Step' to a revisit to dark corners space in 'Cathedrals Underground' and 'You Can't Tell Time In the Dark'.

one very obvious change in this album is the guitar work. Mr. Kenyon is all over the fret board, utilizing his prog rock inspired riffs in a way that doesn't deviate from RM's original sound. His playing reminds me of Deron Miller (of CKY) who listened to way too much of Hopesfall's The Satellite Years. the subtle use of faux instruments and synths add to the albums overall atmosphere and the improved drumming adds a great amount of power to each track. "Paths..." could be summed up by listening to "Barriers", which is easily one of the best songs ever written my the band.

just like "The Grasping Hands..", there seems to be a developing story written in sound, or it could simply be a extraordinarily written album that has a definite beginning, middle and end with all parts methodically thought out, competently arranged and very well played.