{"id":61782,"date":"2017-02-08T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T21:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=61782"},"modified":"2017-02-08T14:17:42","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T20:17:42","slug":"void-ritual-returns-like-a-spirit-from-the-black-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/void-ritual-returns-like-a-spirit-from-the-black-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Void Ritual Returns like a Spirit from the Black Past"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the glut of new releases and promotions in support of the ACLU last Friday, it would have been easy to miss the fact that our old pal Dan from\u00a0Void Ritual<\/strong> dropped an excellent new release. Get caught up here for an introspective view into Void Ritual 2K17.<\/p>\n

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Spirits of the Black Past<\/em> is a bit of an odd release, one offering more of a state of the Void Ritual union than a definitive artistic work of new material. To wit, only five of the eight tracks included on the album are new; two are updates of older tracks, and one is a cover of\u00a0Immortal<\/strong>‘s “Mountains of Might.” Daniel Jackson himself, multi-instrumentalist and sole member of Void Ritual, describes the record as a “special release” rather than a proper full-length on his Facebook page<\/a>. So what exactly does this special release say about Void Ritual?<\/p>\n

For one, Daniel’s songwriting skills and instrumental prowess are as sharp as ever. While previous releases\u00a0Holodomor<\/em> and\u00a0the split with\u00a0Barshasketh<\/strong> featured plenty of razor riffs and icy melodies, the five new tracks on display here speak to a musician who has really hit his stride and found the proper balance between beauty and ugliness, harmony and bleakness, that he always sought. There’s a stunning diversity on display across the five new songs that definitely sets them apart from past material.<\/p>\n

While “Of Wolves & Cowardice” and “A Mockery of Flesh & Bone” feature lightning fast rhythms pitted against anguished vocals and mesmerizingly melodic tremolo riffs, songs like “Born of Ash” counterbalance the blasts and harmonies with a slow, righteous stomp and head-crushing\u00a0riffs. Dan knows that moderation is key, though, so even as slower tracks open up into blast sections, he never lingers too long in one mode; the riffs in “Vanish” branch and mutate like lightning forking through a ragged sky, branching from one set of notes to the next with electric energy and stunning brilliance. Unique little lead flourishes, like the brief runs that morph into heavily melodic shifting lines at the end of “A Mockery of Flesh & Bone” or the opening solo in “A Thirsty Delirium,” act as the capstone on a beautifully refined songwriting sensibility.<\/p>\n