OUT TODAY: Void Ritual

(review by MMB)

Void Ritual

Death Is Peace

release date: August 3, 2018

label: Ipos Music

Some time ago I heard someone say, “I like black metal in theory, but I cannot hear what’s going on.” They were explaining that they would like it better if the music were audible, in their opinion. What they really mean actually might be, “I don’t bother with black metal because I have already made up my mind that black metal sucks.” What stereotypes are there about black metal, especially one-person projects?

Take as an example Void Ritual. It is an interesting proposition for the black metal fanatics. This is a one-person project, and this U.S. entity is all about the real deal, banging metal music with in-your-face riffs, tremolo picking and melodies, and the tried-and-tested-and-true vocals that you imagine when you think about black metal. The person behind the project is Daniel Jackson, a music-obsessed New Mexican devoting life to extreme metal in the city of Albuquerque.

There are three big features: guitars, vocals and drumming. In the past Jackson has explained the use of programming for the drumming and it seems like this is the case on here, but Void Ritual is meant to be a good recording in which you can hear the subtle and background elements. It looks like Jackson does just about everything in Void Ritual, but it is undeniable that there is consideration that goes into making this work something that fans of cult do-it-yourself black metal can really dig their paws into. There is a variety of small background elements in Void Ritual that enhance the listening experience, as this is not minimalist music, and you can tell that Jackson has made an effort to deliver a good recording. For instance, on the headphones you can hear the tremolo and the melodies in one ear and on the other you can hear the thicker, riffing marching forward inviting the headbanging.

Void Ritual is not an experimental nor a weirdo-strange nor a cassette-garage project; it is a rather traditional project of loud and fast black metal oriented towards the composition of songs that can grab the attention of the fans of the genre. Nicely done.

iposmusic.bandcamp.com/album/death-is-peace