The Swiss metalcore crew never planned on conquering the world. They just wanted to start a band, make some noise and have a good time. Then Wacken happened.
words @killer.solo.music
There are worse ways to accidentally end up at Wacken.
Days of Ruin started in Switzerland in 2017, pulled together from musicians who had already done the band thing before. The original plan wasn’t world domination. It wasn’t record deals, private jets or becoming international rock aristocracy.
It was basically: fuck it, let’s start a band.
Nine years later, they were standing on the Holy Ground at Wacken.
They’d won the 2026 Wacken Metal Battle Switzerland and suddenly the little Swiss metalcore machine was playing one of the biggest metal festivals on Earth.
And according to the band, the whole thing went by ridiculously fast.
They normally play clubs. Suddenly there were thousands of people staring back at them.
Terrifying?
A little.
Worth it?
Absolutely.
THE DNA STARTED WITH KORN
The musical infection began with nu metal.
Korn. System of a Down. Linkin Park.
Then came Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse and Dimmu Borgir, among plenty of others.
One of the band’s members even remembered seeing a metalhead at school wearing a Cataclysm shirt. That guy eventually became his guitarist — and apparently the bastard who taught him everything he knows.
Not a bad recruitment strategy.
The result is Days of Ruin’s particular collision of old-school metalcore and death-metal weight: riffs, grooves, breakdowns and enough aggression to make a perfectly innocent afternoon considerably less innocent.
FUCK THE PERFECT LIVE SHOW
One of the most interesting parts of the conversation wasn’t about guitars, pedals or studio tricks.
It was the band’s attitude toward playing live.
They don’t want the live show to become a reconstruction of a recording.
They want the thing to breathe.
Speed up. Slow down. React to the room. React to the crowd.
As they put it:
“If people come out to attend a live show, they should see a live show.”
There it is.
No fucking holograms required.
WE JUST WANTED TO HAVE FUN
The band’s story gets even better because they never really expected it to become this.
They were already in their 30s when Days of Ruin came together. The goal wasn’t some grand five-year industry plan.
They just wanted to play.
“We just wanted to have fun.”
And then the years started stacking up.
The shows got bigger.
Wacken appeared on the horizon.
Now Age of Ignorance is about to land.
The seven-track EP arrives independently on September 25, 2026, carrying the band’s familiar metalcore/death-metal weight through songs including “Another Day in Hell,” “Poison” and “Stand Up.”
Not bad for a band that apparently wasn’t supposed to get anywhere.
THEN WE TALKED ABOUT ZOMBIES
Naturally, the interview eventually descended into the only subject that really matters:
Who dies first when civilisation collapses?
The answers were encouragingly pessimistic.
One member immediately declared himself “in the credits at the start of the movie.”
Another figured the singer was probably getting eaten.
This is apparently the international future of Swiss metalcore.
And honestly?
Fair enough.
Days of Ruin may not have started out trying to conquer the world, but Wacken has already happened, Age of Ignorance is about to arrive, and they’re still making the kind of music that sounds considerably more dangerous when played at full volume.
Which, thankfully, is exactly how it should be.
Age of Ignorance — September 25, 2026.
Fall down.
Get back up.
Make some fucking noise.
This is the gospel.
I bite crowd surfers
– Killer
