Album News - DRUG CULT To Start Recording Their New Album on Ritual Productions

DRUG CULT ENTER THE STUDIO TO RECORD THEIR SECOND RITE ON THE RITUAL PRODUCTIONS IMPRINT

Cosmic light calls us back into the vortex. 

Drug Cult step out of the shadows, alchemy attuned and are now ready to manifest their elemental energies once again. 

Tomorrow, August 23rd, the band enters Australia's illustrious 70s recording studio,
Music Farm Studios, in the Byron Bay Hinterland to record the follow-up to their self-titled debut rite, released during Summer Solstice 2018 via Ritual Productions. George Carpenter will continue to be at the recording and mixing helm of such surreptitious, spirited sonics.

Keep your third eye open for the serpent is stirring and a shift in your consciousness is on the horizon.

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NIBIRU - Salbrox (Album Review)

Release date: May 10th 2019. Label: Ritual Productions. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Salbrox – Tracklisting

1.EHNB 14:41

2.EXARP 09:18

3.HCOMA 10:29

4.NANTA 05:55

5.ABALPT 06:29

6.BITOM 04:00

7.RZIORN 13:32

Members

Ardat – Guitars, Percussion & Vocals

Ri Salma – Bass, Drones & Synthesizers

L.C. Chertan - Drums

Review

Italian Psychedelic Drone/Sludge/Doom Ritualists NIBIRU return with their 5^th album Salbrox and it’s another mysterious journey into the more wilder and experimental of Doom/Drone/Sludge Metal. The psychedelic and trance based sounds are merged once again with the Enochian chants of lead vocalist – Ardat. The vocals and lyrics are quite gloomy and scary throughout the entire album.

The music is played with a demonic and sinister passion as the riffs can be very hard to understand at times and you will need to be a dedicated follower of the band to fully enjoy and appreciate this album. This isn’t your most straightforward album with Salbrox being a very unorthodox and unsettling album to listen to at times and that is saying something for NIBIRU.

Salbrox is most easily their disturbing and heaviest album to date with long droned out Doom/Sludge noises creating a complex rhythm and almost horrifying noises on songs such as EHNB, EXARP, ABALPT and RZIORN.

I will admit that I prefer the earlier albums of NIBIRU compared to Salbrox. As it’s more my style of Psychedelic Sludge, Doom and Drone Metal. However I admire NIBIRU’s creative choices with this album. As it’s an engrossing style of Extreme Doom/Drone/Sludge Metal. I don’t know if I will listen to this album again in a hurry though. As you need to be in a certain mindset to fully understand and appreciate.

The album is superbly produced with the band creating a whole range of dynamic and demonic noises. If you dig bands such as THOU, BONG, SUNN 0))) and THE BODY then NIBIRU and this album will speak volumes to you.

Overall, Salbrox is a complex and frightening album to listen to and will rule over your nightmares for years to come. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Ritual Productions and Barbara at NeeCee Agency for the promo. Salbrox is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now via Ritual Productions.

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

11PARANOIAS - Asterismal (Album Review)

Release date: March 15th 2019. Label: Ritual Productions. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Asterismal – Tracklisting

1.Loss Portal 08:16

2.Bloodless Crush 03:21

3.Vitrified Galaxy 06:32

4.Prelude 02:07

5.Slow Moon 09:07

6.Quantitative Immortalities 11:55

7.Chamber of Stars 06:14

Members

Adam Richardson (bass/vox)

Mike Vest (guitar)

Nathan Perrier (drums)

Review

Asterismal is the epic new album from Progressive Doom/Sludge Metallers 11PARANOIAS. This album is a very dense and heavy affair and I wouldn’t expect anything less from these guys. The album is a Space Rock odyssey though the band a nightmarish and surreal vision to their music. The music is constantly heavy and always evolving into a different style of Spaced Out Rock that only 11PARANOIAS could possibly make.

Asterismal runs for around seventy-two minutes and it’s epic as they come. The songs all have a deep meaningful sound and identity of their own. Each song sounds very different to each other. As the band play many different styles of Doom, Sludge and Psychedelic Metal. The whole feel of the album has an almost TRIBAL feel to it especially on songs such as: Loss Patrol, Bloodless Crush, Vitrified Galaxy, Slow Moon, Chamber Of Stars and the excellent two-part song of Acoustic Mirror.

If you’ve listened to previous albums by the band then you know what to expect. However, the band take a darker and slightly depressing turn on this album and it works wonders for their overall sound. Their music now has a more threatening purpose and the music becomes heavier as a result.

The vocals from Adam are superbly sung from the start. As they’re a mixture of clean chants, harsh growls and regular clean vocals. Though I do have an issue understanding what is being sung on certain parts of the album. It’s a good job that the music is brilliantly played and highly original in its own right. The heavy droned out sludgy guitars allows the band to have a more nuanced approach to their music.

Asterismal has a distinctive stop-start approach where the band could be playing an epic riff and they stop for a split second and decide to play a different style of music. For the most part this works in the bands favour. However, this style of music could be distracting to the more casual listener than a die-hard fan of the band. Asterismal is perhaps best suited to people who know what to expect from this great band.

Asterismal is a thrilling and very surreal album that delves right into the darkness of i 11PARANOIAS music. This is an album that you need to be in a certain frame of mind to fully appreciate and understand the whole meaning of the album. 11PARANOIAS have always been the type of band who are never afraid to experiment with their music and still make you want to experience more.

I may not fully understand the full themes and ideas of Asterismal yet but it’s going to be a great journey trying to figure this out for myself. Overall, Asterismal is a thought-provoking and complex album that ranks as one of the best albums the band have released yet.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Barbara at NeeCee Agency and Ritual Productions for the promo. Asterismal will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Ritual Productions from March 15^th 2019.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Ancient Lights - S/T (Album Review)

Release date: July 06th 2018. Label: Ritual Productions. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Ancient Lights – S/T – Tracklisting

1.Decaying Lotus

2.Temple Ghosts

3.War of Attrition

4.Orichalcum Eater

5.Asakai Dasa

6.Against Nature

7.Miasmaculatum

8.Fallow Year

9.Vessel of Inevitability

10.Slow Breath

Members

Tim Bertilsson – drums

Adam Richardson – bass, guitar, vocals & lyrics

Ben Carr – guitar

Review

Ancient Lights is made up of members from the following bands Ramesses, 5ive and Switchblade Ancient Lights takes influence from those bands but still sounds remarkably different as well. Ancient Lights are more kindred spirits to bands such as BONG and SunnO))). As the band play a blend of Psychedelic Rock, Doom, Sludge, Ambient, Drone and Post Rock sounds.

Their debut self-titled album has its fair share of heavy and epic progressive sounds buried within the epic seventy minute plus running time. The album isn't going to be for everyone. As it's not an easy album to listen to. Some parts can be quite hard and challenging to fully sit through. However the album is never boring and it rewards the listener with an almost out-of-body trans-dimensional experience that leaves you wanting more on certain songs.

Opening song - Decaying Lotus - is a twelve minute opus that sees Ancient Lights creating a heavy droned out Ambient/Post-Doom atmosphere with the chant based vocals. I would normally say that this is a bold and brave move to open the album with. As the song is quite experimental and has a lot of different parts to it. However this is how the rest of the album sounds like. If you're not moved by the first opening track then the rest of the album won't impress you at all. Though I most soldier on with this album review and I'm a huge fan of what Ancient Lights have created on this album.

The myriad of different sounds and ambient textures make this album what it is. Songs such as: Temple Ghosts, War of Attrition, Asakai Dasa, Against Nature, Follow Year and Slow Breath are the standout songs on the album. With Ancient Lights creating the heaviest and most far-out riffs on the album. Sure the album could have benefited from a couple of the shorter songs being left out for pacing purposes. The instrumental work is simply superb and intense from Ancient Lights which isn't surprising with the hugely talented members involved.

The album does have its fair share of moments of Ancient Lights playing standard Doom Rock/Metal riffs compared to the usual Droned Out Metal parts that make up the majority of the album. The vocals do take some time getting fully used to. As they are primarily chant based. Though they are superbly sung throughout the entire album.

The production is simply marvellous with the album being consistently loud and dynamic from the start. Overall, Ancient Lights have released a thought provoking sonic experience that will leaves you wanting more.

Hopefully this will be the first of many great albums from Ancient Lights and not just a one-off collaboration.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Ritual Productions for the promo. Ancient Lights debut self-titled album will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Ritual Productions from July 06^th 2018.

Links:

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