Ride For Revenge – Sinking The Song
Band: Ride For Revenge
Title: Sinking The Song
Label: Independent
Release date: 10 September 2018
Country: Finland
Format Reviewed: Lossless digital
Ride For Revenge caught their fans by surprise when they dropped their latest album, Sinking The Song. Having hinted that a new album was coming next year, the band outright admitted to lying about the release date, something that completely fits the evil nature of such a band. For those unfamiliar with the band, Ride For Revenge frame their music around a primitive approach to black metal. Their playing focuses largely in the realm of doom tempos and incorporates noise elements (sometimes more so than others) to create an atmosphere as rich as the soil around a mass grave. Sinking The Song shows the band in a more riff-focused state of mind, resulting in an album that sounds not unlike what Celtic Frost’s Morbid Tales might sound like if played at about forty-percent of its speed.
After a brief intro in the form of “Formed In The Crossfire Of Lucifer And Satan,” the album kicks off proper with “The One And Same And All.” From the first moment of the track, it’s apparent Ride For Revenge are wielding their dark magic in the form of crushing, primordial riffs. The song plods steadily like an otherworldly beast emerging from a muck of grime and filth. The production is harsh but heavy, and one doesn’t need to listen too closely to notice how well-executed it is: every pop and imperfection can be heard despite the apparent decrepit recording of the sounds. The atmosphere evoked feels like the preparation for an invocation of pure evil. This is reinforced by the labored ceremonial drums on tracks like “Naked And Ready” or “Keep Your Children Safe,” and then juxtaposed with the more mid-tempo breakout found in the title track – before devolving into a sinking pit of total despair that forces the listener’s very soul into total submission and defeat.
Ride For Revenge rarely, if ever, disappoint those who know what to expect from the band. Sinking The Song carries this tradition onward down darkened corridors of the blackened hearts of the band. So light some black candles, burn some offerings, and prepare your sacrificial victim at the altar – their screams will surely only add to the auditory experience of pure, stripped down evil found on the record. 8/10 d00mfr0gg
8/10 To Greatness and Glory
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