~
The familiar sound of amp buzz. A feedback squall tears to life, ominous 4/4 cymbal taps. Slow tremolo riffs rise. Fills build in intensity. One final ringing chord… then BOOM. RITUAL CLEARING have arrived.
Formed in 2019 this USBM horde may be relative newcomers, but the sound they drag kicking and screaming along with them is anything but. Drop forged in the searing heat of ’90s Scandinavian black flame, names such as Sacramentum, Lord Belial and Bathory (as astutely noted in the press release) do indeed slip from the tongue with ease – yet the alchemical formula this perilous pentad of black souls concoct is their own. Each of the four tracks that comprise their eponymous debut crackles with its own dark energy, and when all are placed together form the necessary thaumaturgical steps to complete the rite and open a portal to nether-realms. Realms from which there may be no return… and realms that we at Black Metal Daily are proud to present to you today with our exclusive full-stream of this compelling debut EP, Ritual Clearing.
To be released on limited cassette by cult US label Eternal Death April 24th, you can experience the full thing ahead of time below – and read our chat with three of the five acolytes involved in this iniquitous sorcery while you’re at it.
The ritual begins. Are you prepared to walk through the flame?
~
~
Hails, Ritual Clearing! Great to speak with you today. Your debut self-titled EP Ritual Clearing is finally being unleashed upon the world today, with physical artifacts available as of April 24th. So, tell us, because I cannot find any information about you all – who are you, how did you form, and what is the purpose of Ritual Clearing?
BF: I’m BF and I play bass in Ritual Clearing. BP (drums) and I were and continue to play in the live incarnation of Death Vanish (featuring Lord Valder from One Master). BP and I had played in earlier bands as well, and doing the DV project was enjoyable. We decided to start another black metal band given our interest and motivations in playing black metal. We reached out to some other folks we knew, either former bandmates in prior projects and/or people who were doing creative ventures we really enjoyed, and the band quickly came together. I’d say our ultimate purpose is to write and perform music that fits our shared sense of existential dread and darkness.
BP: Thank you for taking the time to ask us questions. I am BP and I play drums and write some of the music for Ritual Clearing. Most of us have been playing together in bands going back years and years, so when BF and I decided to keep our musical relationship continuing from Death Vanish, it was only natural to call out to them to complete the lineup. As far as purpose, I personally was looking for an outlet creating music that reflected how disgusting the world has started to feel. It could be age, but I started to grow more in need of creative outlets for the negative side of life. It is important to allow those feelings to manifest themselves and be addressed.
DM: I’m DM and I handle vocals. BF and I had talked about forming some sort of black metal project for a while – I had been working on something on my own but he came to me and asked if I wanted to vocals in a new band he was forming. Because I don’t live in the same place as everyone else, only handling vocals struck a great balance for me and allowed me to be flexible with my involvement in the writing process. The purpose of the band for me is definitely as an outlet to confront a sort of darkness that I can’t really channel in other styles of music.
Your sound harkens back to the ancient core of black metal – from where in particular have you drawn inspiration?
BF: I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head! We absolutely take a fair amount of influence from the classic Norweigan, Finnish and Swedish styles, but we also try to bring in additional influences that we enjoy, particularly more modern styles like atmospheric or depressive suicidal black metal. In particular, I’ve enjoyed the more recent output of bands like Solar Temple, Vaal, Departure Chandelier and Sulphuric Night, and I like to think we try to incorporate modern elements as well.
BP: What tends to attract me to bands from the era you mention and some modern bands is the “rawer” aesthetic. Too much polish can immediately turn me off from a band who might otherwise be writing music I would enjoy. The music needs to sound feral and desperate and not like it was run through the modern metal production factory.
DM: I definitely love a lot of what both BF and BP mention above, but personally I’m drawn more to the SDBM side of things – with really anguished vocals and depressive, all-consuming waves of guitar. I try to channel that sort of style vocally and push it further to pair it with the raw aggression present in the riffs.
What was the creative process like for the EP? Did you find yourselves slipping into any particular mindset to write these songs?
BF: Not so much a mindset as a shared creative urgency. We tend to write our songs as a collective entity and then send the songs, upon completion, to our singer who lives a few hours away. We were really able to tap into something when we all got together, and it ended up that someone would be a part or two and we’d be able to get a real sense of what the song would become. Our drummer, BP, also plays guitar, so he was able to bring help flesh out the parts in many instances.
DM: I had wanted to do something like this creatively for a long time, so I definitely shared that sense of urgency as well. I was present for the first few practices to work some initial things out, and then would pop in to work on the songs with everyone every month or so leading up to recording. In between that everyone would send me practice recordings and demos for me to sit with.
Love the cover art – I’m a sucker for hand-drawn imagery on black metal. Who is the artist, and how does the image connect to the album?
BF: Thanks! The cover art was done by Trigiometri and they really did a great job with it. We wanted to nail the sense of isolation and dread that we had in mind when writing the material, and I really feel as though the artwork captured it well.
BP: I am a person who enjoys a good deal of solitude, so when we were giving direction to Trigiometri for the artwork my main ask was for something that reflected those impulses. The music we make, to me, also feels like something that is done in the shadows and away from society, so we wanted that reflected as well. He came through quite admirably!
The EP is being released via Eternal Death, who have unleashed some killer albums upon the world. How did this come to pass? Are you pleased with the relationship thus far?
BF: Both BP and I play in Death Vanish with Lord Valder of One Master, who also operates Eternal Death. It was a logical choice for us, but it was never a given that he’d offer to put it out! We were really grateful for his willingness to work with us on this. Suffice to say, the relationship has gone quite well.
Whilst all four songs on the EP are great I’m fascinated by one in particular, the ultimate composition ‘Mensis’ – a simultaneously menacing and epic conclusion to the EP. My only knowledge of the word “mensis” is from Latin, where it means “moon” or “month”, and probably stemmed from Proto-Indo-European linguistics referring to the moon’s phases as the measure of time. Does this have anything to do with the theme of the track? Could you tell us a little about it, and how it ties in to the greater theme of the EP?
DM: That entire song is actually a bit of an outlier on the record thematically. The name and lyrics are all inspired by Bloodborne, a Japanese RPG that draws heavy inspiration from Lovecraftian horror. The entire lore of the game revolves around this sort of inner horror, insanity, and the capacity humanity has for brutality in the name of spiritual and intellectual enlightenment. With the Lovecraftian influence in there as well there’s a lot of cosmic imagery going on, which is definitely tied to ‘mensis’ and the moon. It’s one of my all-time favorite video games – I find the themes and aesthetics really striking so I wanted to pull from that for the closing song.
Seeing as we are streaming the EP in full today, I’ll ask: do you have any favourite moments or tracks, or is there any aspect of it you are particularly pleased with?
BF: The entire EP catalogs this dark, ominous journey we embarked upon while writing, and listening to it really brings me back to that process. I really enjoy it in its entirety. I like to think writing this material has just made us ready for whatever is going to come next.
BP: I am particularly pleased with DM’s vocal performance throughout. Given the distance between him and the rest of the band, we do not often have the chance to rehearse together. Once we were recording the tracks, I was very happy with both his vocal sound and his choices.
And finally – what lies in the future for Ritual Clearing?
BF: We’ve continued writing songs and will continue to be doing so in the near future. We had some shows lined up for the tape release and then the pandemic forced us into isolation for the time being. We look forward to the day when all this has passed and we’ll be able to play those shows once again. I suppose this sort of forced isolation in the face of global catastrophe will make for some interesting material on our end. Let’s hope something decent comes of it!
BP: We will continue to write material and look forward to performing out with friends, both old and new.
DM: Been working on a lot of different things while stuck in isolation, so hopefully that translates to something worthwhile for this project.
Sincerest thanks once again for speaking with us today. Any final words or wisdom for us all?
BF: Just a sincere thanks for checking out the release. We really appreciate it, cheers!
BP: Thank you for your time and helping share our creation with the world. No wisdom here, cheers!
DM: Many thanks!
Ritual Clearing releases 24th April via Eternal Death. Pre-orders available now.
~
Pre-order Ritual Clearing on digital or cassette from the Eternal Death Bandcamp HERE, or on cassette from the webstore HERE.
Support RITUAL CLEARING:
~
Like Black Metal Daily on Facebook for more kvlt sounds and tonal blasphemy.
Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com
Black Metal Daily 
1 Comment