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THE SABBATHIAN
Ritual Rites EP

Svart (2014)
Rating: 7/10

With its typically occult cover art, Ritual Rites comes crawling out of the woods like some rain-sodden witch eager to bang on your door and steal your children.

The Sabbathian is the brainchild of Hour Of 13’s Chad Davis, who it would seem has become tainted by the plague and prompted to form a contemporary doom metal band graced by female vocals and daubed in black magic tradition.

I almost sigh at the thought, and yet The Sabbathian’s debut offering is actually quite good rather than the stale affair I was expecting. I feel I have a right to be sceptical, mainly due to the fact that occult rock is such a big thing at the moment – offering us so many trudging female-fronted bands – but with Ritual Rites we simply have something a touch more mesmeric, even though it appears a tad more stripped back. Purson it most certainly isn’t, but I’d happily slot this three-track affair alongside the work of Blood Ceremony.

It’s weighty, lumbering and keen to promote the bewitching vocals of Anette Uvaas Gulbrandsen (who has previously worked with Leaves’ Eyes) who it must be said does that have typical voice best suited to such thunder. Rarely do we seem to hear female doom metal vocalists with any grudge or bellow to the voice; instead, we get these subtle, smoky and silky tones which were two-a-penny in the late 60s with so many psych-garage bands, and yet now it’s very much flavour of the month. This of course means that many of these types of bands are finding it hard to stand out from the crowd, and while I have enjoyed this record I believe the same problems may hinder The Sabbathian.

The three tracks on offer are general doom-by-numbers plodders and there’s nothing wrong with that; in fact, it’s nice to hear a starker groove instead of something belched out and sounding like an outtake from The Wicker Man soundtrack (1973). It would seem that the musicians assembled here – also including Joey Downs (Altar Blood) on guitar – are more than happy to combine a Candlemass-styled drudgery with the predictable Black Sabbath influences. With Gulbrandsen’s soaring vocal, it certainly makes for an atmospheric listen when the grey clouds outside the window are about to burst.

Of the three tracks, it’s the title cut (which is sandwiched between ‘Ancient’s Curse’ and ‘Nightshade Eternal’) which works best. The basic riff is so darn heavy and the drums just rumble like thunder, while Gulbrandsen’s vocals are of a ghostly nature at times, especially as the track comes to its stormy close. ‘Nightshade Eternal’ comes a close second, however; a truly monstrous chug of a black riff and offering extra fire in that vocal delivery. Again I’m reminded of the dark, brooding atmosphere of Candlemass only without the sheer terror or drama, but even so, as a release this bodes well for future works.

While it does little to separate itself from the crowd, Ritual Rites more than makes up for this in weight.

Neil Arnold

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