''Creature'' is the debut studio album by American

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

band

Within the Ruins Within the Ruins is an American metalcore band formed in Westfield, Massachusetts in 2003. The group currently consists of guitarist Joe Cocchi, drummer Kevin McGuill, bassist Paolo Galang, and vocalist Steve Tinnon. They are currently signed to ...

. It was released on February 17, 2009, through

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thu ...

. It is their only studio album to feature Jon Grande on vocals. Additionally, it is their only studio album to feature Kyle Marcoux on guitar, and also Madison Roseberry on bass. The album features a distinctly different sound than the established sound the band would reveal on their sophomore release ''Invade''. The album saw the creation of the band's first

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, recorded for the song "Extinguish Them" and published to the band's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on October 2, 2011.

Background and recording

Creature was recorded between November 10, 2008 and January 2, 2009, at Zing Recording Studios in

' hometown of

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...

. Zing had previously produced highly acclaimed

albums by renowned

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

bands such as

Unearth Unearth is an American metalcore band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998. The group consists of lead guitarist Buz McGrath, vocalist Trevor Phipps, bassist Chris O'Toole, drummer Mike Justian and rhythm guitarist Peter Layman. They are cu ...

's ''

The Oncoming Storm ''The Oncoming Storm'' is the second studio album by American metalcore band Unearth. It was released on June 29, 2004 through Metal Blade Records. The album was produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, and was their first majo ...

'',

August Burns Red August Burns Red is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. The band's lineup of guitarists John Benjamin "JB" Brubaker and Brent Rambler, drummer Matt Greiner, lead vocalist Jake Luhrs and bassist Dustin David ...

's debut ''

Thrill Seeker ''Thrill Seeker'' is the debut studio album by American metalcore band August Burns Red. It was released on November 8, 2005, through Solid State Records and was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz. A music video was released for the opening track "You ...

'', several

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin ...

albums, and

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of guitarists Jon Donais and ...

's ''

Somber Eyes to the Sky ''Somber Eyes to the Sky'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Shadows Fall, released in 1997 on Matt Bachand's own label Lifeless Records in the United States, while the European release was handled by Genet Records.

''. The band would return to Zing to engineer the vocals on their 2017 release ''Halfway Human''.

Critical reception

''Creature'' was ranked 53rd by ''Metal Injection'' readers in the blog's end-of-year "Best Albums of 2009" poll.

Track listing

Personnel

;Within the Ruins * Jon Grande – vocals * Joe Cocchi – guitars, production * Kyle Marcoux – guitars * Madison Roseberry – bass * Kevin McGuill – drums ;Additional personnel * Eric Arena – production, engineering, mixing * Jim Fogarty – engineering, piano * Jay Deluca and Maria Rice – engineering * Jeff Lipton – remastering * Godmachine – design, artwork * Doublej – layout * Jeremy Saffer – photography

References

2009 debut albums Within the Ruins albums Victory Records albums {{2000s-metalcore-album-stub