The Resurrection CD

The 2011 release from the USBM masters. Digipak comes shrink wrapped with 4 page color booklet and silver foil printing on cover.

Tracklist
1 A Funeral For My Heart 2:55
2 The Resurrection 3:29
3 A Perfect Moonlit Night 3:52
4 Executioner Of The Elder Gods 3:33
5 This Means War 3:11
6 Drowning Into The Sea 3:12
7 Temples Of Baphomet's Sons 4:26
8 Nightmare 4:09
9 Winter Of My Discontent 3:35
10 Blinded By Hatred 2:51
11 March Of The Damned 4:21

The Heavy Metal Tribune:

USBM band Ritual is by no means a newcomer in the extreme metal circle, having formed back in 1993 but having a long silence since the release of their 1998 full length album, Soldiers Under Satan’s Command. 2011 sees the return of the band, with the release of their brand new album after more than 12 years, aptly titled The Resurrection, with band mastermind Ian Fleming forging ahead alone, handling all instruments and songwriting on the album and proving his abilities as a worthy musician.

It wouldn’t be the listener’s fault if he were to think of Ritual as another depressive black metal band as opener A Funeral for My Heart certainly portrays itself to be so, with the melancholic lead guitar lines and the emotional backdrop. Heck, even the track title is equally depressive, and this mood continues even as the next track, The Resurrection begins, and what first catches the listener’s attention is Ian’s vocals, a shriek that could, indeed, resurrect the dead, backed by the ghostly, haunting lead guitar tones that constantly lurk in the background and rear its head whenever the time calls for it. Mostly, the lead guitars on the album are melodic and somewhat soothing, rarely stealing the limelight at all, instead choosing to blend in with the rest of the instruments. There is a certain doom-ish feel of the rhythm guitars as well, as the music progresses at a mid-pace, taking its time to present its art without any hurry at all, and this is definitely a nice touch indeed as it allows the listener to absorb the music at their own leisure, yet not so slow that it leaves the listener bored.

Throughout the album though, the band displays their proficiency and knowledge of the various musical genres and this shines through the influences that they have included on the songwriting in the album, such as the melodic death metal moments on Nightmare and almost doom metal rhythmic section on Temples of Baphomets’ Sons. While the foundations of each of the songs remain solidly black metal, with tracks like This Means War containing riffs that sound like it could come off a Satanic Warmaster record, almost none of the tracks on The Resurrection sound similar to each other, leaving the listener guessing what’s coming next, and this definitely keeps the adventurous listener engaged and interested throughout and could put black metal purists slightly apprehensive.

Overall The Resurrection is an enjoyable black metal journey, and though this is my first encounter with Ritual despite their long history, this album has got me sufficiently interested to go dig deeper into their past, with their melodic and melancholic style of black metal.
-By Hong Rui