Ritual
Demonic Winter Metal
[Wild Rags]


From the snow covered pagan lands of Los Angeles, CA, comes Ritual with their second CD. How a band hailing from what I believe to be a sun and sand covered American metropolis somehow comes up with titles like this is beyond me. To prove how original this band is, apparently they've recently jumped on the neo-thrash bandwagon!

I never heard "The Summoning", but if it's anything like "Demonic Winter Metal", then I'll gladly pass. This album is a total waste of time from start to finish. Generic "Nordic" chord strumming, pathetic vocals (is he trying to "sword swallow" the guitarist while doing the vocals?) that sound as if they were recorded underwater, and quite possibly the worst drum machine found on a black metal CD. The last few tracks are a clear Burzum rip-off, especially in the vocal performance, although the music does improve compared to the others. I assume this is a collection of the bands earlier demos then.

If I wanted to be bored to death, I'd watch television or stare at the ceiling. I don't need to actually waste money to achieve a state of uncomfortable mental inactivity. Raw and VERY generic black metal in it's least successful form!


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