A Song to Ruin by Million Dead

A Song to Ruin was Million Dead's first full-length, out in 2003 through Xtra Mile Recordings and Integrity Records, and the London post-hardcore crew produced it themselves. The band had started in 2000 when Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka arrived in London from Australia, picked up Ben Dawson, who had worked alongside Dean in a record shop, and landed Frank Turner, an old bandmate of Dawson's, as their singer. By late 2002 they had signed to the labels that put this out.

Nobody sands the edges here. It's wiry, jagged punk rock, guitars scraping and lurching, Turner yelling like a man losing an argument he fully intends to win, and "I Am The Party" gets the blood up. BBC Music heard uncompromising, politicised rock that demanded attention, and musicOMH singled out lyrics sharp enough to keep the pub arguing long after closing. Harmony No Harmony came next.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.