Debut demo, “The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation Of Madness”, out on March 6th!
Absent Ritual arose from a cryptic calling to manifest a sonic vision of maniacal, twisted catharsis. Forged in the flames of esoteric heavy metal and cast through the hallowed halls of classic progressive rock, it came to be as a serpent of darkened atmospheres, shrouded in mystery and exploratory labyrinthine wanderings.
The roots of Absent Ritual began long ago, from deep within the sordid olde lands of NYC’s heavy music landscape, drawing mystically and mythically from untold – and somewhat forgotten – corners of dark, experimental, avant-garde, and psychedelic musical undergrounds.
The result? Absent Ritual’s first public recording, The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation of Madness. Comprising three songs in 20 minutes, the power-trio’s debut demo begins conservatively enough – marching, grimly melodic black metal – but soon reveals its true powers. As that march begins to morph into a strut and that melodicism turns more to actual guitar-soloing – the sort of rock gods rather than basement dwellers – Absent Ritual present a significantly altered face: outsider black metal that doesn’t belabor its “outsider” status and rather exists in its own idiosyncratic, psychedelia-drenched world than simply trying to “be.” To be sure, this is BLACK METAL alright, but it possesses an unorthodoxy that’s refreshing in the present day and one that harkens to the ancient days of the genre, when bands were pulling from varied sources and approaches instead of ones already codified as “black metal.” And this is but the start of more Madness to come…
