In Pittsburgh City Paper, Ritual Mass were upfront with their designs and intentions as a band, going as far as to say, ‘we’re not interested in having a good time with our music. This is not a band for partying.‘ Now, before I read this, I had run through their new album Cascading Misery around… ten-ish times? And while old habits die hard and I definitely got some head-nodding in during the more melodic and heavy parts, I agree. Even though they still operate convincingly and tactilely in the sphere of sound that is death metal with a very hearty helping of doom, I can say pretty confidently this is one of the most bleak-sounding albums I’ve heard this year.
I mean, it is called Cascading Misery, but many bands play up a doomer, downtrodden aesthetic because they like it and/or the themes it conveys, meanwhile encouraging others to unwind and have fun with their art – nothing wrong with that. Some bands really entrench themselves in the purpose and craft though, and as we’ve said many, many times using several bands’ music as a framework, the world is fucked in half. There’s a camaraderie in wallowing together, to see and hear your feelings mirrored back to you in horrendous (complimentary) ways, where even if there’s escapism to be had, it’s to a worse place. Similar to how Pyramid Mass‘ EP from earlier this year hit me, so too does Cascading Misery… maybe it’s a ‘Mass’ thing.
The album just sounds black, like a sonic manifestation of dark where the most color and light you get is the grayscale conveyed by the band’s weighty guitars that manage to stay varied throughout the LP. I mean, look at the cover (by artist P. Trona). If this is death metal – and it is – it stands for the death of hope, a sacrifice of ambition and desire to a cosmic altar of suffering. After all, there’s no way to look forward meaningfully if you’re too tormented by the past and present, unable to see past the crippling, inky fog. “Obsidian Mirror” and “Immeasurable Hell”, the first two songs on Cascading Misery, spill forth in this manner expertly. Yes, there are riffs; yes, the songs have solid progression and movement in them, but they only convey the most negative aspects of human experience.
With the shifts to and inclusion of doom metal tendencies, Ritual Mass come into their own. I failed to mention until now that this is a debut album, a line drawn in the proving grounds’ sand of expectation after a couple smaller projects lurched forward from the band. It’s on “Looming Shapeless Entity” and beyond where things start to truly get interesting and the theme is executed on exponentially. This track contains the first real descents into doom hell, like entering a haunted mineshaft via an elevator, but the elevator lowers quicker and quicker until you’re in free-fall. Melody still exists, but it’s more the persistence that grabs with rapidly strummed guitars, ceaseless double bass drums, and a feeling that this is the point of no return – it is.
The title track is very much a continuation of this with more frenzied instrumentation like the first two songs, using plentiful pinch harmonics to represent restless souls or demons that break your sanity further (not to mention containing my favorite riff 30 seconds in), and “Frozen Marrow” is a culmination of their death metal chops with the most entertaining and strong drumming, album finisher “Disquiet” is probably the best doom metal song I’ve heard this year. 14 minutes and 32 seconds of no games, no tropey bullshit, no lacking imitation, just Cascading Misery peaking with terror made manifest through hyper-deliberate instrumentation that trends much slower than the rest of the album including a midsection with enough breathing room to make your own thoughts suffocate you. It’s miserable indeed, in the best possible way so as to make it wildly replayable, but it hits so much harder after journeying through the rest of the album first and arriving at it like a funereal end.
I really appreciate the honesty and frankly bucking of trends Ritual Mass do with their music. For all the bands we listen to for fun, to feel good, and forget our troubles for even just a little bit, I’m absolutely of the mindset that we need a yin to that yang, where we are still capable of recognizing next-level musicianship, but aimed at reflecting reality back to us, and it’s hard to imagine anyone looking at the state of the world and not thinking it’s horrific right now, even if it’s for skewed reasons. Cascading Misery is resplendent with pain, it’s every worst corner of the world grafted to each other to form a layered hell that only crushes and dissolves the further you go into it. While I’m sure there’s intelligible lyrics at the core of this album, most of the vocalizations just sound like bellows, wretches, and yelps as someone sinks into nothingness, and honestly, same. You may not like where Ritual Mass are coming from, but they are key to a well-rounded understanding of human experience.
Band photo by J. Adams
