Emma Ruth Rundle – These Killing Times

Having plumbed her own abysses on Engine Of Hell, Emma Ruth Rundle gathers her friends and reconnects the amps for These Killing Times. The program of this sixth studio album: the powerful return of a vindictive folk shoegaze that stands as a sonic barrier against the world’s rough edges.

God save the queen

Clothes don’t make the monk. That’s at least what one tells oneself when reading, literally and figuratively, of “Powerless”, the first single unveiled last June. A few acoustic arpeggios mingle with piano notes: Emma Ruth Rundle seems to pick up where her previous album left off. Initially titled “Noam Chomsky Is Dead To Me”, this track quickly reconnects with the distortion and energy of early days. “Anvil” sums up this synthesis: strings, adventurous drums and soaring vocal lines transform a seeming simplicity into a climax powered by a voice more untamed than ever. Let us remind that Emma is no longer alone: the bass/drums duo returns with Troy Zeigler (Baroness) and Jess Gowrie (Chelsea Wolfe), who do a remarkable job on this album. The sole survivor of the sessions from the previous record, “God’s Picture”, with its hints of jazz, links the two releases and condenses the through-line of These Killing Times.

Return under high distortion

Where Engine Of Hell (2021) leaned toward the intimate, this new record widens the lens. Emma Ruth Rundle surveys an era plagued by inequalities, the rollback of rights or the rise of authoritarianism. In the middle of the album, the dusty “Catherine Wheel” is arguably the most bruised track. An intensity that is supported by a rougher and more upfront production as guitars take the lead again, while preserving intimate, almost live-on-sleeve quiet moments inherited from her predecessor. The dissonances in “Enough” turn this excess into a genuine sonic glitch. Fortunately, the jolts, numerous across these eight tracks, find balance in the power of the collective. From George Clarke (Deafheaven) to Marissa Nadler, whose work Emma recently expressed admiration for, the contributions integrate naturally into the whole. Even more: they never feel like a mere guest gallery.

The hammer and the anvil

Because if this sixth album does not merely lay out a portrait of a world in decline, it looks for what remains to be saved. Openly political, These Killing Times dives into the darkness of its era to try to extract a few drops of hope. In its defiance, first and foremost. The hammer referenced in “Powerless” serves as much to break as to reconstruct. But there is also a spirituality that threads through the album without tipping into dogma. After the hell of the previous album, Emma even inquires about paradise on “Don’t Delay Heaven”. A central, slightly floating breath, perhaps the sole lull of the record. But an excellent reminder that religious imagery remains, for her, a means to question our condition rather than provide ready-made answers. This is perhaps the album’s greatest strength: it is the first that Emma has primarily written with others in mind.

And what next?

After so many weighty questions, Emma Ruth Rundle’s answer seems almost naïve: “Human Kindness”. Two words repeated like a mantra for more than eight minutes, a disarmingly simple response to everything the listener has endured. The track keeps a latent tension behind its guitars before a flood of distortion gradually turns gentleness into catharsis. In its final stretch, fuzzy effects and a guitar solo complete the collapse of restraint: the same restraint that, throughout, has amplified the mood. The closing chorus of “Oceans Of Time” ends the album with an enigma: What will we live for beyond the valley of the shadow of the fear of all men? A held mirror, a shared reflection to which everyone must now find their own answer.

A renaissance

In a world bent on splitting apart, the American artist bets on coming together as a way to stand stronger. Resolutely collective, These Killing Times reconnects with the electric power of Marked For Death (2016) without sacrificing the vulnerability that has made Emma Ruth Rundle a singular artist. A renaissance that is less about the self than about the collective, which will soon take on even greater meaning live, with four dates in France, including April 13 at L’Élysée Montmartre.

The article Emma Ruth Rundle – These Killing Times originally appeared on RockUrLife – a rock, metal, alternative, pop, punk, indie webzine.