Hungary’s Faminehill Offer Captivating Dynamic Metalcore On New Single ‘Ruin’

Resolutely constructed songs like Faminehill’s “Ruin” can provide a temporary home for the listener. The Hungarian metalcore band’s structure and overall presentation enact a framework that observers can explore, entering into a kind of cooperative emotional experience with the musicians themselves. Their January 25 single zeroes in on a feeling of alienation from a loved one, presenting their snapshot of that tough situation via their music itself and not just the lyrics. The band repeatedly surge, building up to crescendos that leave the listener feeling vulnerable but free, the latter component of which gets driven home thanks to the sheer physical force of the band’s music, which gets fairly vicious at times.

Vocalist Milan Rockov explains that these effects were largely intentional and a solid sense of purpose underlies the band’s creations. In a way, the music itself pushes the band forward in a cooperative relationship with the members in a journey that listeners get to engage in too.

“If something bothers us and it is hard to share with anyone, we put it in songs, but sometimes we try not to be very specific in the lyrics, like not writing in every detail what it is about, just some thoughts about it, so anyone could listen and make it their own and relate to it,” Rockov says. “In the case of ‘Ruin,’ it turned out quite obvious, but it’s not the case with every song we write. They are all personal in their own ways. Sometimes we need to rewrite a whole instrumental to fit the lyrics, but most of the times the instrumental gives the idea what is it we want to tell, it sets the mood.”

Rockov describes that mood as often based on “past experiences that have left a mark or taught me or us something that we still carry to this day,” but as he makes clear, the band aren’t particularly exclusionary with their craft. They’re consciously looking outwards, leaving a picture with broad brush strokes tinged by their own particular backgrounds.

“This is our best way to write about the things we want to,” Rockov explains of Faminehill’s particular swinging sonic dynamics. “Ruin” contains both visceral screams and gently flowing passages. “It was always a thing we liked and I think we’ll always keep it.  For us, writing about our experiences and feelings, anger and bitterness comes together most of the times, and just like feelings, it can be something we feel very strongly about, or something more mellow and melancholic. Thinking about it musically, we all listen to various genres — we got inspired by very soft sounding artists and records, and really heavy sounding bands as well.”

“Hopefully people can find something that they can relate to or maybe some kind of relief if they went through similar situations,” he adds. “Maybe we can help someone find peace or feel less alone, less scared of what’s going on. For me this is what I love the most when I listen to music.”

Photo via David Bodnar

Listen to “Ruin” below. The band’s album “Ascend” drops April 5 via Famined Records.