Ritual - Ritual

1. Pieces

2. Gag Order

3. Americhrist

4. Rat Queen

5. Grim Part II

6. Hot Pink

7. Model Wife

8. White Blooded

9. Love Song

10. Ripe

11. Ataxia

Ritual have released their debut album, which is self titled. As singer Matty Tobin is the formerly of Dead and Divine, this album has similarities to them. This is a heavy "core" album, and has a very professional sound to it. If you are a previous fan of Dead and Divine, you will most likely like this album. Along with bands such as Every Time I Die, Norma Jean and The Chariot, these are bands that seem to be similar in style to ritual's debut. SO if you like those bands, give this a listen. They have done a pretty decent job here. The instrumentation on this album feels very much like a band that stops on a dime and changes what they are playing, while also trying to play aggressive and fast. These guys can play, as seen throughout this album, but it isn't the type of thing that will turn heads, it's just solid music that will turn heads based on members mostly. Now onto the vocals and lyrics, when looking at Matt's vocals, he can certainly sing, and sing well he does. His vocal style, almost has a southern hardcore style to it. For the most part you can understand what he is saying, but there are times its hard to catch. All in all, he does a solid job on this album and it's worth the listen. With the lyrics, the band goes for songs about the way society is and how people are for themselves, depression, being in a bad place in life, and just overall having a bad life. We feel these reflect the singer and how his life must be at this time. Unfortunately people can relate to being this way and needing an outlet to get these things out. Many musicians use music to do so, and this feels like that. If you are looking for a single to this album, give the song "Rat Queen" your attention, as this is the hit for the album, and will give you a good idea on how the rest sounds. Ritual have made a dark and somewhat depressing album, but it's also aggressive and brings you into the bands world. Being the bands first effort, this shows what the band is going to be like, and their sound. We really seem to like this album, so give it a listen and decide for yourself what you think about it. 

Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore/Post-Hardcore

Release Date: October 30th, 2015

Location: Hamilton, Ontario

Website: http://www.weareritual.com/
Label: Bullettooth (USA)/Distort Entertainment (Canada)