There are bands you recognise within seconds. Poison Ruin are one of them.
Coming from Philadelphia, the band have developed a language of their own within punk — one that seems to arrive from another time without ever losing sight of the present. Distortion, crushing rhythms and dark melodies inhabit a world of peasants, ruins, chains, spirits and abandoned castles. Medieval and fantasy imagery isn't used as historical recreation, but as a language through which Poison Ruin explore alienation, power and the structures that continue to shape the present.
Their new album 'Hymns From the Hills' pushes that world further. The crackling darkness and heavy rhythms of their previous work remain, but the space around them has grown stranger and more expansive. Killing Joke-like primitivism, blast beats, analogue synths and ambient passages enter the picture without sacrificing the aggression at the centre of Poison Ruin.
This November, we bring that world to Portugal for two nights.
November 4 · Lisbon
The first takes place at Galeria Zé dos Bois, presented by Mondo Negro and ZDB.
Joining Poison Ruin are Bated Breath, a new Lisbon punk band made up of familiar faces from active and defunct bands around the city.
Their songs begin with one person, who writes and records them, before becoming a five-piece when they reach the stage. Bated Breath came from a simple desire to make something happen in the middle of adult life — and on November 4, that happens at ZDB.
📍 Galeria Zé dos Bois · Lisbon
🚪 Doors: 21:00
🎟️ Tickets: €15 via zedosbois.bol.pt
Mondo Negro × ZDB
The first of several nights we'll be putting together.
November 5 · Porto
One day later, Poison Ruin head north to Woodstock 69 for the beginning of another collaboration, this time between Mondo Negro and Produções do Diabo.
Opening the night are Jardim de Cinzas from Matosinhos. Moving between stoner and noise, their influences stretch from Electric Wizard to Sonic Youth, combining weight and hypnotic repetition with bass drone, feedback, experimentation and raw vocals.
It makes for a very different opening to the Lisbon date and exactly the kind of contrast we wanted between these two nights.
📍 Woodstock 69, Porto
🚪 Doors: 20:00
🎟️ Tickets: Pre-sale €14 via dodiabo.company.site / Door €18
Mondo Negro × Produções do Diabo
The first chapter of a collaboration that already has more to come.
Three posters, one universe
The visual side of these dates was created by Bizantina, who designed three different posters inspired by the medieval, dark and fantastical imagery surrounding Poison Ruin — one for the tour announcement and one for each individual show.
Rather than variations of the same design, each is a different interpretation of the band's visual and thematic universe.
Two different nights built around the same visit.