Poison Ruïn’s music has been tagged as “peace punk in chainmail” and the musical accompaniment “to your next D&D campaign” or “medieval vision quest”. All of those descriptions are accurate. But you’ll also hear hard rock duelling with haunting post-punk, melodic anarcho punk played by wandering NWOBHM minstrels and a little plague-era deathrock. Clearly, a wide range of dramatic-sounding punk and metal bands have influenced Poison Ruïn’s sound. But it’s often the band’s dungeon synth elements that get mentioned first. The Dark Ages have long been considered an unenlightened time. Some days, it feels like we’re sinking back into an age of misfortune and oppression. Perhaps that’s where Poison Ruïn serve us best, soundtracking our inevitable decline with ice-cold (but always red-hot) tracks. Long may the NWODAP reign.