With the release of this new bestial offering by
Agonia Records featuring French onslaught leaders
Temple of
Baal with "newcomers"
Ritualization, it was clear now that France, after being a haven for Black
Metal is also and foverer more a force to be reckoned in Death
Metal.
For quite a long time, Death
Metal and France meant only a few names like
Loudblast,
Agressor or the band that’s probably best known outside of France:
Massacra. Still to be very honest, most of these great bands had not completely shed their Thrash
Metal influences and were not full-fledged Death
Metal beasts. I see some of you in the back screaming at the top of their lungs that those were not the only Death
Metal bands out there and they’re right but it’s not a last.fm list so keep fucking quiet.
Most people reading this are probably better acquainted with
Temple of
Baal than with
Ritualization.
Lightslaying Rituals, their latest full-length effort, had also been released on
Agonia Records two years ago and had started to show a new direction for the band. Their first two albums were very much influenced by
Darkthrone and were basically good, if not excellent,
True Black
Metal offerings. Still, with
Lightslaying Rituals,
Temple of
Baal had put a lot more Death
Metal in their music and that transformation is still happening on
The Vision of Fading Mankind. Much more of a
Blackened Death
Metal act now, the band devastates everything in its path. Four tracks that will leave no one doubting that they might have gone in the wrong direction. It’s intense, epic and blasphemous all at the same time while retaining the poignancy of the earlier releases.
Then come
Ritualization. Now if you’ve followed a bit the underground lately you couldn't have NOT noticed the rise of this promising band. This is the first time ever that
Ritualization will release something on CD and let's thank
Agonia Records for this. After two demos, the band whose Death
Metal may be compared to blasting deities
Angelcorpse meeting the gloomiest side of
Incantation, it was about time to reveal this band to the whole world. If you’re familiar with the aforementioned bands, chances are you know where this is leading: apocalyptic and dark Death
Metal.
You’ll “only” get three tracks of very intense Death
Metal and though the
Mortem (legendary band from Peru) cover is excellent, two tracks of their own seem a bit too little to get fully acquainted. Especially considering the fact that
Temple of
Baal put the mark quite high with their part... Oh well, it's only a start and I bet a full-length debut may well be under way and this will have to do for now.
Altogether, I can only recommend this split CD (also available on limited edition vinyl) which highlights France’s creme de la creme in extreme metal. There’s no way you’d be disappointed except maybe for the length of it which we would all wish to be longer…
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