''Ruiner'', released on August 16, 2005 through Nitro Records, is the fourth full-length album from the

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

-based

melodic hardcore Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. The style often includes guitar harmonies, riffs using octave chords, as well as broken chords. Additionally, lyrics tend towar ...

band

A Wilhelm Scream A Wilhelm Scream (abbreviated as AWS) is a melodic hardcore band from New Bedford, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. Sonically, their music has been compared to that of Strung Out, Hot Water Music, Propagandhi, and Strike Anywhere. Their nam ...

, and their second album since changing their name from Smackin' Isaiah in 2002. It received mostly very favourable reviews.

Background and recording

In September 2004, the band said they were in the planning stages for their next album. Two months later, they began pre-production for it. In January 2005, the band went on a brief north east US tour with

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...

, Most Precious Blood and

the Explosion The Explosion is an American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. On February 13, 2007, the band announced that they had left Virgin Records, and on April 30, 2007, that they were to split up. On September 4, 2007, the band played their ...

. They recorded it at

The Blasting Room The Blasting Room is a recording studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. Founded by members of the punk rock band All in 1994, it is owned and operated by musician Bill Stevenson ( Descendents, Black Flag, All, Only Crime) and Jason Livermore. T ...

in Fort Collins, Colorado in February 2005.

Composition

In an interview with Racket Magazine, whilst on the tour of which the Australian tour edition was released, now ex-guitarist Christopher Levesque confirmed that the other guitarist, Trevor Reilly, sings the song "

In Vino Veritas is a Latin phrase that means , suggesting a person under the influence of alcohol is more likely to speak their hidden thoughts and desires. The phrase is sometimes continued as, , . Similar phrases exist across cultures and languages. The ex ...

II". It was also revealed in the same interview that Bill Stevenson also participated with vocals and that Levesque did the piano parts in the song.

Release

A Wilhelm Scream appeared at

The Bamboozle The Bamboozle was an annual three-day music festival which was held in New Jersey from 2003 to 2012, and was scheduled for a 2023 revival in Atlantic City by its founder. Every year, new bands competed for spots during the two days. The event ...

festival in April 2005, and played a few shows with

BoySetsFire BoySetsFire is an American post-hardcore band from Newark, Delaware. Formed in October 1994, BoySetsFire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nat Gray, drummer Jared Shavelson, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehre ...

. Following this, they toured the US with

the Lawrence Arms The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively. Band history Pre-history Prior to forming the Lawrence Arms, the three band members were active ...

and

the Methadones The Methadones are a Punk rock band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid in Chicago, Illinois. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Vapid put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan ...

. On June 17, 2005, ''Ruiner'' was announced for release in two months' time; alongside this, its track listing was posted online. Five days later, the album's artwork and "Killing It" were posted online. A Wilhelm Scream supported

Lost City Angels Lost City Angels were a punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Their most well-known line-up consisted of members, Ron Ragona, Adam Shaw, Chris Duggan, Drew Indingaro and Nick Bacon. Overview Lost City Angels were founded in 2001 by Adam ...

for a handful of shows in July 2005, leading up to a two-week appearance on that year's

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

. On August 12, 2005, the music video for "The Soft Sell" was posted online. ''Ruiner'' was released on August 16, 2005, through

Nitro Records Nitro Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1994 and operated by The Offspring's Dexter Holland and Greg K. Nitro is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notab ...

, which was promoted with a US tour with Catch 22 and

Whole Wheat Bread Whole wheat bread or wholemeal bread is a type of bread made using flour that is partly or entirely milled from whole or almost-whole wheat grains, see whole-wheat flour and whole grain. It is one kind of brown bread. Synonyms or near-synony ...

running into September 2005. Following this, they appeared at a Nitro Records showcase at

CMJ Music Marathon CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

, supported Pennywise for the rest of September 2005, and supported

Strung Out Strung Out is an American melodic hardcore band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1991. Their sound also includes elements of heavy metal. They have released nine studio albums on Fat Wreck Chords as well as one live album, two B-sides ...

for a handful of shows in October 2005. They went on a US tour with

Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike. "", Canadian Online Explorer, CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are Georg ...

the Receiving End of Sirens The Receiving End of Sirens (abbreviated TREOS) is an American rock band from Belchertown, Massachusetts, United States. Formed in 2003, the band broke up in 2008 then briefly reunited in 2010; a 2020 reunion tour was canceled. In December 2024, ...

and

Idiot Pilot Idiot Pilot is an alternative rock duo from Bellingham, Washington, consisting of Michael Harris and Daniel Anderson. History After their previous band, pop-punk outfit Azero Cherry, broke up, high schoolers Michael Harris and Daniel Anderso ...

. They closed out the year appearing at the

KTCL KTCL (93.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an alternative rock format targeting the Denver metro area. Its studios are located alongside iHeartMedia's other Denver stations at 4 ...

-run Not So Silent Night festival, and played shows with the Blackout Pact. In January 2006, they embarked on a tour of Europe with

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the ba ...

. Following this, they supported

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Buddy Schaub (trombone), Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxophone) and Matt Yonker ...

on their headlining US tour until March 2006. Around this time, the band released two outtakes from the sessions – "Diver" and "They Like Their Turtlenecks Ribbed" – on

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

. On February 7, 2006, the band announced that bassist Curtis Lopez left, stating that he "took off on a plane today for some reason so he's outta here"; they appeared at the

Groezrock Groezrock was an annual music festival that took place in Meerhout, Belgium. It started as a small rock music, rock and pop music, pop festival with one stage and a few hundred people attending, but evolved into a large punk rock/hardcore punk fe ...

festival in April 2006. Nick Deiner of

the Swellers The Swellers were an American punk band from Flint, Michigan. Their music is influenced by melodic punk rock, as well as alternative and indie rock bands, from the 1990s. They disbanded in 2015. Band history On June 24, 2002, brothers Nick a ...

, who "quit college to do this tour", temporarily filled in for the rest of the shows. After the trek concluded, A Wilhelm Scream held auditions for a full-time replacement. In April 2006, the band toured across Canada supporting

Protest the Hero Protest the Hero is a Canadian progressive metal band from Whitby, Ontario. Originally named Happy Go Lucky, the band changed their name to Protest the Hero, then released their debut EP, '' Search for the Truth'', in 2002. In 2005, the band re ...

; former the Fullblast bassist Brian Robinson joined A Wilhem Scream for this trek. In July and August 2006, they toured the US supporting Lagwagon. Following this, the supported

on their headlining European tour until September 2006. A Wilhelm Scream then toured across Australia with

. Coinciding with this, Australia-based Shock Records released a tour edition of the album, which included the outtake "Bodies and Suitcases" as a bonus track.

Reception

Punknews.org ranked the album at number three on their list of the year's 20 best releases.

Track listing

Personnel

;A Wilhelm Scream * Nuno Pereira -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Trevor Reilly -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, backing vocals, art direction, lead guitar on “The King is Dead”, lead vocals on "In Vino Veritas II". * Christopher Levesque - guitar,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Jonathan Teves -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals * Nicholas Pasquale Angelini -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Studio personnel * Bill Stevenson -

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, mixing, additional vocals * Jason Livermore - production, engineering, mixing * Andrew Berlin - additional engineering * Brian Kephart - additional engineering * Gene Grimaldi - mastering ; Additional personnel * Rob Dobi -

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

and

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

Release history

Details

* Recording studio: The

Blasting Room The Blasting Room is a recording studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. Founded by members of the punk rock band All in 1994, it is owned and operated by musician Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag, All, Only Crime) and Jason Livermore. The ...

Fort Collins A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

* Mastering studio: Oasis Mastering in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

References

{{Authority control A Wilhelm Scream albums 2005 albums