Ritual Moon Review

RITUAL MOON – S/T  (2021)

AS SOON AS THEIR demo came out in 2019, it was obvious that L.A. trio Ritual Moon were going to become a force to be reckoned with in the black metal/black thrash world. The clue is in the songwriting, the confident and intelligent way in which these three women put their songs together, not just as a collection of gritty and brutal riffs, but as original compositions with real progressive flow. This, their eagerly-awaited, self-released debut album offers seven brand new tracks, along with revamped versions of three of the songs from the demo (excluding only the instrumental ‘Passage’) and two songs from their 2020 split with Harlequin – ‘L.M.S.Y.C’ and ‘Crimson Avenger’.

‘Uncontrollable Death’ is arguably Ritual Moon’s best song, and it hits even harder here than it did on the demo, with its pounding snare and 80s-style thrash riff. Belen screams like a malevolent harpy over it all. She belts out the perfect black metal vocal, a morbid, hair-raising screech that raises the spectres of Satyricon’s Satyr, Nocturno Culto and Quorthon. New songs like ‘Divided Paths’ and ‘Predestruction’ really shine as well. ‘L.M.S.Y.C’ (‘Let Me Suck Your Cock’) highlights the metalpunk elements which are to be found running like veins through the album. With its slurred, Hellhammer guitars and simple drums, it creates an old-school vibe that makes this album immediately appealing across genres. 

These songs don’t have to grow on you, they’re there straight away, raw and harsh, melodic and hypnotically catchy, with the kind of primitive simplicity that is hard to reproduce. And they don’t seem to go stale however many times you listen to them.

‘Dismal’ opens with a soul-crushing acoustic intro, before living up to its title by developing into quite a grim and tragic-sounding dirge. It’s a spellbinding melodic black metal instrumental in the cold second-wave style, which brings to mind Ardente, Departure Chandelier and Nimbifer. Mars’s drumming is really powerful on this track, with the bass drum sounding more dominant than anywhere else. Fans of gritty, old-school black metal will also appreciate ‘Divided Paths’, with its despairing vocals and hammering blast beats that alternate with primitive dbeat rhythms. The sound is satisfyingly low-fi, not as rich with low-end as the demo, but clear enough that all the instruments come through strongly. It’s not too close to industry standard gloss, and not too scratchy either. And whatever imperfections it may have just make it sound more present and real.

On the whole, the album is mid-paced, with blast beats being used sparingly and in short bursts, but the material is so strong that speed is never an issue. ‘Transcend’ is one of the faster ones, with its relentlessly pounding snare and big death metal riff, whilst the funereal ‘Scorched Earth’ starts off moody and melancholic before a leaden, doomy riff comes along that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Black Sabbath album. ‘Sadistica’ is the only song the band have done with Spanish lyrics. It’s a venomous and sinister piece, about a femme-fatale who tortures and murders her lovers. But it’s the songs from the demo which seem specially to stick in the mind, especially future classics like punk-infused ‘Grave Soul’, ‘Uncontrollable Death’ and the infuriatingly catchy title track (you’ll need trepanning tools to get that one out of your head).

It’s not hyperbole to say that Ritual Moon’s debut album is one of the freshest and most original black metal/blackened thrash albums to see the light of day in years, and certainly one of the best. Anyone with even a passing interest in the raw, old school variety will be drawn to this like flies to a corpse. 

‘Ritual Moon’ will be released on 13th Jan 2021.

J.Cooper (2020)