New album, “Rogue Angels”, out on October 31st!
STARLIGHT RITUAL was born in Montréal, Québec, sometime in 2013, founded by guitarists J.F. Bertrand and Dan Toupin. It was originally Bertrand’s idea to start a doom/psychedelic project, and they soon recruited bassist Mat Forge and drummer Louis Lecomte. Dan and J.F. wrote a full-length album of doomy, heavy/prog instrumental music. Some of those tracks ended up on the band’s first self-titled album in 2015 (technically a self-produced four-song EP, albeit with a running time of nearly 40 minutes). Damian Ritual joined STARLIGHT RITUAL as a singer in early 2014. Since then, the band issued another EP, called “Age Of The Universe” (2016), followed by their first official full-length album “Sealed In Starlight” on Temple Of Mystery (2021).
Damian comments: “Our early work featured longer, more psychedelic tracks meant for zoning out, but I never felt that truly represented what the band could be. On the ‘Age Of The Universe’ EP, we started leaning into a more classic heavy metal sound. By the time we released ‘Sealed In Starlight’, we had really found our identity: traditional heavy metal with epic flair, channeling the likes of Manowar and Running Wild, as well as older influences like Thin Lizzy and Rainbow. We blend the styles we love and make them our own. If I had to put a label on it, I’d call it ‘Epic Hard Rocking Traditional Metal’, if that’s even a real genre!”
Cover art by Marie-Pier Lapointe.
https://www.facebook.com/starlightritual
https://www.instagram.com/starlightritual
