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Los Angeles, California-based Heavy/Power Metal underground heroes Ruthless have been enjoyed by only a handful of Metalheads. They never made it big despite releases like 1984’s mini-LP Metal without Mercy or 1986’s debut full-length Discipline of Steel. They remained a very obscure and relatively unknown Metal act for many of us. Even I forgot about Ruthless until I saw something in the pits of the encyclopedia of all useful/useless information, the mighty Internet. There was an advertisement for the band’s forthcoming new album, They Rise.

They have risen indeed, releasing their second full-length record almost 30 years after the excellent Discipline of Steel album. They Rise contains nine new songs plus the band’s semi-legendary Metal without Mercy mini-LP as a bonus. The question is, after all these years of silence, was the wait worth it? I guess the answer depends on you, the listener. If you have always been a fan of Ruthless’ sound then I cannot see any reason why you should skip this release. If you are new to them then you should definitely check out They Rise because of the mini-LP bonus. Now you can get to know their past sound, too.

Being a fan of simple, back-to-the-roots US Heavy/proto-Power Metal I can honestly say Ruthless has pulled the right strings on They Rise. Vocalist Sammy DeJohn sounds as great as ever his powerful voice really suits Ruthless’ Heavy/Power Metal anthems. Sometimes simplicity can do miracles and that’s the case with They Rise. Ruthless understands how to keep things simple but still catchy as fuck without compromising their sound and that has paid off for them on this record. Right now my favorite tracks off They Rise are the fast paced and mean sounding "Hang Man" and "Frustration" and both remind me of the energy the band had some thirty years ago. The epic and powerful song "Systematic Terror", with its gang-shouted chorus, appeals to me a lot, too.

As for the Metal without Mercy mini-LP, it’s truly a classic piece of US Metal. It’s as simple as that. It is way more dangerous sounding and thrashy than They Rise. Metal without Mercy still sounds amazing and ass-kicking after more than 30 years.

Get They Rise as Ruthless definitely have earned our support.