Description
Ritual (pron. rich-oo–uhl): An established or prescribed procedure, rite, ceremony, proceeding or service… Any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner… A prescribed code of behavior.The Black Dahlia Murder does not exactly seem like a band that’s easily ritualized.
The face-melting Detroit quintet has made a career out of being unpredictable – as well as unhinged, unclassifiable and unrepentant, all in the best possible ways. But with "Ritual," its fifth full-length album, the extreme metal troupe found fertile territory in the wide world of those prescribed practices that would seem verboten to a band that’s always marched to the double-time beat of its own drummer. And in doing so it’s come up with what frontman Trevor Strnad considers "the most focused Black Dahlia Murder strike of all time."
"The whole thread of the songs is more tied together than ever before," explains Strnad. "Part of it was kind of like, ‘What can we do that’s the most Black Dahlia Murder thing? What’s going to be the most quintessential Black Dahlia Murder thing we can do?’ That’s kind of what we set our foothold in. And ‘Ritual,’ it just lends itself to that – it’s mysticism and magic and all of that. Everyone has an association with some kind of ritual, so we just thought it was the next logical step."
Following up 2009′s acclaimed "Deflorate," which brought The Black Dahlia Murder the highest Billboard chart positions of its 10-year career, "Ritual" revels in both conceptual ambition and equally striking musical growth from a band that’s pushed itself into more extreme and challenging territory on each successive release.
Recalling the writing process that led to "Ritual"’s eventual 12 songs, Strnad says that "every song that got brought forth was exciting and more three-dimensional, more twists and turns, more surprises. There’s more ups and downs and taking people on a journey this time."
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