A band that’s
rooted in traditional doom and bases its songs on horror and occult themes,
mainly derived from HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos – it’s as if Space God Ritual
was designed with the express intention of winning me over.
And the vintage
guitar tones, simple but catchy riffs on this album certainly go a long way
towards sealing the deal. The influences are obvious but awesome: Pentagram,
Trouble, St. Vitus and some righteous Sabbath worship. The vocals are a bit
more of a hard sell, falling in the ‘love them or hate them’ category. The
primary influence is obviously Pentagram’s Bobby Liebling with some Vitus-mode
Wino, but with an added nasal warble that isn’t exactly mellifluous. As with
The Wizar’d, the doom band from down under, I’m personally able to take the
vocals on their own terms for what they contribute to the atmosphere of
primitive, subterranean doom.
Among the songs
that stood out for me were ‘The Weeping’ which has some very effective soloing
and a veritable prospectus of doom modes, from a loping chug to drawn-out,
ominous chords. The guest female vocals (or is it the singer himself vamping it
up?) on ‘Necromantic Woman’ are hilarious and put me in mind of vintage horror
hostesses like Vampira. A really nice touch and I like it when horror-themed
bands can throw in a little camp along with the scares. ‘Mad Alhazred’ is a
most menacing and doom-laden paean to the atrocious author of that grimmest of
grimoires, and the vocal style really suits this song, sounding like some
crazed cultist or horrid high priest. There’s even a bit of Eric Wagner
influence shining through on the keening chorus. The title track is the chthonic
epic I’d hoped it would be, any hint of camp is absolutely foresworn in favour
of a dark, gloomy atmosphere that makes this a real highlight and one of this
years’ instant classic doom songs.
All that’s left
to note are a few basics. This is Space God Ritual’s second full-length and
their past releases don’t seem to have really blipped the radar outside the
very innermost circle of doom metal fandom. Going by this album, the band have
their act together, know their idiom inside-out and are ready to start carving
out a larger slice of the doom pie. In the words of the Old Gentleman from
Providence, Ia! Ia!Cthulhu fhtagn!
words by Jayaprakash Sathyamurthy
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