Boy, you think you have a band figured.
This is the single Black Dahlia Murder record I’ve never
heard of, and it did not take me long to understand why. My general concern
from the very first album of this Mass Burial has been running out of ways to
say this band is doing good work when they constantly do good work in a
subgenre I’m not too enthusiastic about or don’t find a whole lot of variety
in. But this time, my concern is that it’s not going to take me very long to
give my two cents on this album.
No band ever stays entirely the same. Experimentation and
growth are inevitable for all artists. Death metal as a genre is overly
criticized for what people see as a lack of growth; and bands that do change
things up are often derided as having done so for some commercial purpose.
Sometimes, change is good, opening new avenues of fans for a band or allowing
the band to explore different aspects of themselves.
And then sometimes, change happens and it isn’t talked
about, which is the general sense I get of Ritual,
and when a band had been as buzzy as The Black Dahlia Murder, that is
probably not good. I suppose that what we have here is that “dreaded” record
that the band always maintains is their “best work ever,” which, if you’ve paid
enough attention to bands over the course of your life, is generally code for
“people don’t like it, but we did something different”. Over the years, the
Metal Community has unleashed tons of such albums, many of which have gone on
to be utter classics of their style. South
of Heaven, for example. Some times, a good album that is different becomes
a personal favorite, or an underappreciated gem in a catalog, that album that
the band plays one song from in concert and everyone pretends they’ve always
loved. Another Perfect Day, or Gateways to Annihilation spring to mind.
Such an album perhaps is Ritual, but
on its own, it is not a good one.
Ritual draws from
the same general songwriting and delivery as Miasma did, but on here, it just does not bear fruit. Generally
speaking, this is a slower and more traditional American Death metal album,
complete with the most prevalent growling of the bands’ offerings to that
point, and while it is not bad – because I cannot honestly say that this is a bad album – it just doesn’t leave much
of an imprint on me as a listener. Only one track, the midpoint “Carbonized in
Cruciform,” really got my interest, the other eleven tracks coming and going
but not leaving anything.
I guess I don’t want to come across as being overly harsh on
this album, because while it doesn’t get my motor running, I can’t say it’s
bad. The writing possesses most of the same Black Dahlia Murder elements that,
by now, would be considered hallmarks of their composition process, but it
lacks a lot of the Swedish stuff that made previous records fun.
Each of the track titles are accompanied by a parenthetical
ritual name. this is an interesting idea, and it makes me think of Black metal
records that may employ the same concept, or those older Nile tracks that are
based on some ancient Egyptian practices.
I’m having a hard time coming up with enough to say about
this record, and that makes me feel bad. So far this Mass Burial project has
been enjoyable, and I don’t want to give the incorrect impression that this
installment of it is bad. It’s not bad, it’s kind of just not for me. But that
feels like a weak cop out, and I’d prefer to avoid that. The album is fine, but
just passes by. There’s really not a lot else to be said, lest we veer
unadvisedly into hyperbole and overly large statements. It’s a fine listen, but
not a very engaging one.
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