A highly technical and relentlessly intense American deathcore unit, Within the Ruins found success in 2013 with the release of their third studio long-player Elite, which marked their first appearance on the Billboard 200. Since then the band has issued a string of dynamic and punishing efforts like Halfway Human (2017) and Black Heart (2020) that stand at the nexus of death metal and post-hardcore. Formed by drummer Kevin McGuill and guitarist Joe Cocchi while the pair were still in high school, Within the Ruins got their start in Westfield, Massachusetts in 2003. Though the band has gone through a number of membership changes since its inception -- founders McGuill and Cocchi are the only longstanding members -- they eventually settled into a lineup rounded out by bassist Andrew Tate and singer Tim Goergen. With an intense deathcore sound that merges metalcore's intensity with technical, detuned guitar wizardry, the band was picked up by Victory Records, which released their full-length debut, Creature, in 2009, followed quickly by their sophomore effort, Invade, the next year. The band switched to eOne for third album Elite, which arrived in 2013; it became their first record to hit the main album charts. A year later, they were back with Phenomena, also on eOne. Paolo Galang replaced Tate on bass in 2015, and, adding clean vocals into the mix for the first time, they released their fifth album, Halfway Human, om early 2017. Three years later, Within the Ruins returned with the punitive Black Heart, which continued to push their sound in a more progressive direction. ~ Gregory Heaney