Scythes, Spirits, and Synths: Poison Ruin Announces ‘Hymns from the Hills’

Poison Ruin’s upcoming release, Hymns from the Hills, ambitiously rewrites the rules of punk. The Philadelphia outfit is pushing their sound into expansive new terrains without sacrificing an ounce of the bleak symbolism and uncompromising aggression that established them as one of extreme music’s most urgent voices. (another side, 2026)

Expanding their signature approach to grim mythmaking, these new songs feel equal parts natural, undeniably of this world, and phantasmal.

Release Date: April 3 via Relapse Records

Formats: Vinyl, CD, and Digital

Available for pre-order.

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A Tapestry of Dispossession

On Hymns from the Hills, Poison Ruin’s previous stories of toil are revealed to be but one chapter etched upon a bleaker tapestry. This is a landscape populated by:

• Spirits traversing sunless deserts and wilted hillsides.
• Demonic torture objects lining the psyche.
• Bodies transfigured into Luciferian snakes.
• Sadean prisoners bound to the screaming silence of abandoned towers.

Lead Single: “Eidolon”

The band’s signature raw, anthemic aggression pummels through on the lead single “Eidolon,” recently released alongside its official video.

Frontman, lyricist, and guitarist Mac Kennedy explains the track’s bleak inspiration:

“‘Eidolon’ is about being stuck in a broken reality, a cog in a fate-machine doomed to play out the same cursed loop until it fully breaks down. The ones who had the power to affect change have abandoned the scene… Grim reminders of what could have, but will not be.”

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Expanding the Sonic Mythos

The record acts as both a forceful restatement and a bold departure. While listeners will recognize the crackling, cassette-dubbed darkness, it is now supported by a carefully sculpted mosaic of new textures:

• Killing Joke-style hacksaw primitivism.
• Blast-beats worthy of the Relapse catalog.
• Crisp analog synth lines.
• Ambient serenades reminiscent of Scott Walker and The Durutti Column.

The Craft: DIY Grandeur

Meticulously composed and self-recorded, the LP saw Kennedy relocate to a private practice space to meet the record’s greater sonic demands. To polish this “hissing abyss,” the band enlisted top-tier talent for the final touches:

• Mixing: Jonah Falco (with Kennedy splicing in gritty tape segments for tonal continuity).
• Mastering: Arthur Rizk.

The result is a rich structure of unconventional frictions—crystalline flashes of polish ripping through low-end grime, only to shatter against the whipping sting of rusted chains.

Mythic Sensibilities

Lyrically, Hymns from the Hills reaches new poetic heights. While the record continues the tradition of employing medieval-inflected fantasy imagery, Kennedy is quick to note that these figures are not intended to be read as historically accurate, but rather as tools for cynicism and defiant bravado.

“I’m not very interested in conveying the historical facts of medieval culture. If we are to make sense of the present, we need to employ a more mythic mode of language and symbol to reach beyond the spiritual malaise that envelopes us. A mythic truth resonates within any time, but its echoes call from outside of time. Medieval and fantasy imagery are simply effective personal starting points for tapping into that mode of communication.”

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