Viking's Choice: A Pregnant Light, 'Born To Ruin'

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A Pregnant Light. Ashley Sheridan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

itoggle caption Ashley Sheridan/Courtesy of the artist

A Pregnant Light.

Ashley Sheridan/Courtesy of the artist

"Born To Ruin" contains one more letter than Bruce Springsteen's ode to the "runaway American dream." Whether or not the pun is intentional, Damian Master has been steadily ratcheting up the drama in his own riffs, hooks and production over three years of cassette releases under various guises (This Station Of Life, Aksumite, All Wave, the list goes on). But his solo project, A Pregnant Light, continues to be unbound by the metal elsewhere in his catalog.

Guitar solos aren't a major part of Master's M.O., as he opts here to brood on a Johnny Marr-like melody. A Pregnant Light has always been about Master's inward expression of the riff, taking notes from all sorts of heavy music and running away with them. For the first time, Master left the bedroom and went into a studio with a band for My Game Doesn't Have A Name. The boastful album title isn't far off, as "Born To Ruin" provides Master's most anthemic statement of purpose yet, curled under a swaggering riff and his fire-spitting bark.

My Game Doesn't Have A Name comes out Nov. 11 on Colloquial Sound Recordings.