Ritual Dictates/No Great Loss/Artofact Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

  Ritual  Dictates  are  a  band  from  Vancouver  B.C,  Canada  that h as  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  punk    and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2022  album  "No  Great  Loss"  which  will b e  released  in  October  by  Artofact  Records.

  Aggressive  shouts  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  bass  guitar  leads  and  keyboards  a  few  seconds  later .  Clear  vocals  can  also  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  which  also  takes  the  music  into  a  heavier  direction  while  black  metal  screams  are  also  added  on  some  of  the  tracks.

  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  small  amount of  blast  beats.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  the  music  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  punk  elements  as  well  as  one  song  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Psychedelic  touches  and  saxophones  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  one  song  also  introduces  female  vocals  onto  the  recording  as  well  as  some  of  the  tracks  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the album  does  not  have  the  death  metal  and  grindcore  elements  of  their  previous  release,  acoustic  guitars  are  also  added  on  the  closing  song.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and  poetic  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  decent  sounding  recording  from  Ritual  Dictates  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  emtal,  punk  and  modern  rock,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "My  Solitude  (and  so  I  shall  Depart)"  and  "Succumbing  To  The  Ravages  Of  Age".  7/5  out  of  10.

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Ritual Dictates Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?



We’re Ritual Dictates from Vancouver BC, Canada. We’re a two piece metal band consisting of Ash Pearson and myself.



2.You have your first album coming out in April, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?



Ash and I were both in heavier metal bands before we joined 3 Inches of Blood, and that’s kind of what we were revisiting when we started writing songs. More death and grind based metal music.



3.Most of the band members also have experience playing with other bands, what is it that you bring into the music of 'Ritual Dictates', that you where not able to do with your other groups?



More creative freedom, I guess? 3 Inches of Blood was a band before Ash and I joined, and although I wrote lots of 3 Inches of Blood songs and enjoyed doing so, I couldn’t really steer too far off the style that was 3 Inches of Blood. With Ritual Dictates, because we are a new band, we can kind of do whatever we want, and that’s what we did with this record.



4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?



Ash is the primary lyricist for this record, and I co-wrote lyrics to a handful of tunes.

Our inspiration for Ritual Dictates lyrical themes come from a range of different places. Sometimes we'll explore a theme like hypocrisy, or living forever. Other times we’ll take a line from a song or a book we read and expand on the story and write lyrics around that, like a quote from Neil Peart’s book, or William Blake, or even a line from a Blue Oyster Cult tune. We’ll take inspiration from something like that and run with it in our own way.



5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ritual Dictates'?



I can’t remember exactly what the discussion was, but Ash said "ritual dictates" in a conversation we were having, and I just said that’s our band name. What a story!



6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?



The artwork for the CD and LP was all done entirely by Rheanna Fancypants of Vancouver. She is an incredible artist and one of my best friends. She also did the graphic layouts for all the EP covers that we released prior to the album.

The EP artwork for “Given to Despair” was done by another great artist from Vancouver, Megan Richter. And the photograph on the cover of the “Terror of Time” EP was shot by Derek Carr.



7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?



We haven’t played in quite a while, but I suppose the Black Requiem Mass show in Vancouver with Kafirun, Omnipotence, Firecult, Finite, and illithid would be my favourite so far.



8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?



Shows? YES! Tours? We’ll see.

We’re playing in Victoria BC on April 16th at Cavity Curiosity Shop, followed by a show in Vancouver on April 17th at The Black Lab, and April 18th at Neptoon Records.



9.You also have a few guests on the new album, can you tell us a little bit more about who they are and also their contributions to the recording?



Shawn Hache was a guest vocalist on “Dominance and Will”. He performs in Night Profound, Mitochondrion, Auroch, and Reversed.

And of course, Danko Jones! He laid some vocals down for “Poisonous Proclamation”. Our engineer Michael Kraushaar also provided some vocals for “Aperiam in Porta”, and Shane Clark who was in 3 Inches of Blood and Bison performed acoustic guitar in “Given to Despair”. It was rad having them all contribute.



10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of extreme metal?



So far so good! We’ve only released two songs so far, and the reception seems to be a positive one. We have one more single to release before the album, and another couple of videos, so let’s keep this train a rollin.



11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?



We’ll always be a metal band, but I’m not afraid to explore new influences and inspirations. So, there will be surprises on the next album for sure.



12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?



Lately I've been listening to Orville Peck a lot. The Footloose soundtrack is on my record player now, and the last couple of records I've spun were Type O Negative "Bloody Kisses" and Diana Ross & The Supremes Greatest Hits.

So many bands and styles have shaped my style, but a few bands off the top of my head that really inspired my metal direction were



Zyklon-B, Assuck, Tsatthoggua, and Order from Chaos. Of course, Slayer and Morbid Angel were among the leaders of the pack.



13.What are some of your non musical interests?



Now that the sun is out more I’m on my bike quite often. It’s a fixed gear, which keeps my legs in shape. So yeah, bike riding. And taking pictures of my black cats and my dog. He’s a corgi.



14.Before we wrap up this interview, fo you have any final words or thoughts?



GIVE IN TO DESPAIR!

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Ritual Dictates/Give In To Despair/Artofact/2020 CD Review

  Ritual  Dictates  are  a  band  from  Vancouver  B.C, Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  metal  and  grindcore  with  some  elements  of  classic  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "Give  in  To  Despair"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Artofact.

   Melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  grindcore  elements  can  also  be  heard  and  some  of  the  solos  and  leads  also  show  an  influence  of  classic  rock.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  while  the  music  also  captures  the  raw  aggression  of  punk  rock  at  times.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in a   decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  songs  also  add  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Clean  vocals  can  also  be heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  as  well  as  one  track  also  introducing  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording  which  also  mixes  a  70's  influence  with  a  more  modern  sound,  synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ritual  Dictates  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death  metal  and  grindcore  with  some  touches  of  punk  and  classic  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dominance  And  Will"  "Last  Phase  Of  Life"  "Extinction"  and  "Terror  Of  Time".  8  out  of  10.

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