Ronin are a difficult band to pin down. Are they hard rock? Metal? A little thrash? Something in between? Probably the latter. Anyway, when we last heard from Ronin, they were dropping music closer to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with their songs “Temptress” and “Spider And Fly” trending upwards to an audience who were growing pretty quickly. In the last 18 months, they’ve been hard at work on their newest album, Valek The Defiler, and they’ve also signed to Pavement Entertainment to push it to a wider audience.
The album actually drops today – and it’s a powerful statement despite having just 8 tracks on it. Tracks like “Saturn’s Portal” almost feel as influenced by bands like Monster Magnet’s mid-period material as they do some of hard rock’s biggest bands, making for an interesting dichotomy. Plus, the badass ronin warrior that appeared on their previous album cover is here as well, so honestly, hell YES to that.
