BY EMMA SCHOORS
COVER ART BY HOLLY TURNER
VISTA’s The Ruins is a triumphant return that delves deep into the topics of personal grief and loss as a whole.
Having not released a record since 2017, VISTA is back with an EP that’s just harrowing enough when it needs to be in order to properly portray the intense feelings and experiences it’s all about, without feeling overly dramatic or unauthentic. This makes way for a truly personal and passionate listening experience for anybody going through similar themes and troubles in their own lives.
“After Death”, a standout track on the EP, is rightly dark and questioning; a common theme that’s carefully strung throughout the five-track effort. Its lyrics are backed by heavy guitars and cinematic drums which further elevate the vocals. Though the EP is full of vulnerability, a lyric that encapsulates this theme is “I’ve turned into someone I don’t know,” which is echoed in the first verse of the song.
Another standout song is the similarly cinematic “Novocaine”, which resides at the end of the EP as a reflective and passionate track about self-doubt and medication, whatever form that might come in. The ballad-like vocals are contrasted by the once more dark backing instrumentals, which give the song more depth and detail through which to connect to listeners.
For anybody going through a patch of personal darkness, VISTA’s “The Ruins” is the perfect remedy. Meticulous and clean yet at times heavy, the EP is the perfect balance of light and dark.