HISTORY OF
Ruinfest began as a small local show in January 2014. Voices of Ruin had gone through some member changes and after some down time, they booked a show at the legendary Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa with local promoter Jason Tyler and a few awesome bands.
Vocies of Ruin was training their new drummer Lonnie VanHorn and this was his scheduled to be his debut show. It had been a couple months since the band had performed and with the anticipation building up, we worked with ADHD Entertainment to create an exciting lineup
The lineup featured Voices of Ruin and Sacred Ruins (this Ruin combo is what prompted us to nickname the show "Ruinfest") as well as our raging NorCal brothers VX36, drunken thrashers Darkale, and devastating black metal act Empyrean Throne.
The show was a huge success and managed to pack the Detroit Bar full of raging metalheads. This was proof that the metal scene on Orange County was alive and rabid for awesome live tunes. Ruinfest is born!
The following year we decided to move to a bigger venue and add some more bands. Ruinfest 2014 was officially under way!
We included the bands from last year and gathered a few more acts to complete a crushing lineup. With new and old friends, we set out to once again create the most crushing local show of the year!
The festival was once again packed and the show was excellent from start to finish. The audience was treated to free pieces of merch and free party favors throughout the night. The bigger venue and larger lineup really elevated this into a truly awesome local festival.
The festival atmosphere was great and it was a very memorable evening full of relentless tunes, good friends, and good times!
In 2015 we decided to take the multiple stage approach and invite a few larger bands to make the event much bigger.
We brought in some more extreme bands to up the ante on this one. We added more death metal and grindcore to this event to really showcase the extreme underground metal scene in Southern California.
The show was nothing short of amazing. We saw a great turnout and the switch to multiple stages was awesome!
With non-stop music, 2 stages, and food/merch vendors on the patio, this show was crazy! It proved that the scene in Southern California and specifically the scene in Orange County was rabid for an awesome metal festival experience!
In 2016, Voices of Ruin and ADHD Entertaiment teamed up yet again to bring the festival to the next level!
We are invited out a special guest and put together an awesome lineup of top tier local bands.
Exclusively created artwork was made for the festival and appeared across banners, flyers, t-shirts, and everything else Ruinfest related!
With an awesome compilation CD and hand selected local vendors, this was the biggest Ruinfest yet!
Ruinfest 2016 was the largest and most successful outing for the festival.
The place was packed, the bands were crushing, and the excitement was non-stop.
Southern California's top bands came together and put forth the most devastating show of the year. We're proud to be a part of such a strong and dedicated scene.
Ruinfest 2017 was absolutely insane. With no shortage of awesome bands in the SoCal scene, the festival just keeps getting better every year and has no signs of slowing down.
Last year we saw the biggest acts to play Ruinfest yet. It was a non-stop barrage of talent from metal bands across California. This has cemented Ruinfest as the heaviest underground festival to appear annually in Southern California.
We set out once again to top last year's lineup with an unrelenting assault of heavy music.
The metal is alive and well in Southern California! Ruinfest 2018 was another awesome entry into the festival's history. It was absolutely insane and the crowd was even more rabid this time around. It's exciting to see such an awesome community get together and celebrate all of the talented bands that SoCal has to offer!
It was a stacked bill with many devastating bands including the mighty Exmortus! We're glad to have the honor of inviting bands like this that grew in the Southern California scene and are now crushing it all across the globe. Supporting upcoming bands and celebrating success is what the scene is about and we appreciate all of the support from the awesome fans!
Now the stage is set for Ruinfest in 2019!
Ruinfest 2019 was absolutely packed and insane. Southern California proved that we don't need an international headliner to have a top tier concert experience!
All of the bands brought it this year and together we created something really special on this awesome evening. This was just a non-stop night of punishing performances from each band. We couldn't be more proud of all the bands and fans in the Southern California scene!
The sound at Malone's was incredible as always and with the new venue improvements it's been the perfect place to showcase the immense talent in the scene.
We cannot wait for the next installment of RUINFEST!!!!
THE WORLD CLOSED DOWN IN 2020 BUT RUINFEST IS BACK STRONGER THAN EVER IN 2021
Ruinfest VII in 2021 was a huge success! It was risky coming out of covid lockdowns with all the live cancellations happening at the time but the SoCal scene came together and had a great festival experience. The positive energy was absolutely in the air and every single band had an amazing show.
The venue was absolutely packed for the entire night! There was a healthy dose of power metal in this year's fest which helped bring in some variety and excitement to this glorious evening!
We cannot thank the fans enough for continuing to support all the amazing bands that have graced the Ruinfest stage and all the amazing people that come together to make this event happen every year!
We'll see you next year!!!
