BURN RITUAL (San Antonio,Texas) started as a project of Jake Lewis (SCISSOR JACK ,KING EARTH), who at first, created and composed, and wrote all the music and lyrics. Well it was a solo project till 2017. After releasing their first EP "Like Suffering," they are back with their first full length "Blood of the Raven." It's a brand new release consisting of seven songs for about 35 minutes of play. We are welcomed with one single note, extended one pulled on with some magical cursed sustain and we already know this ain't gonna be an album about the bluest sky or the joy in the universe. The first melodies are slowly invoked to let us listeners be aware of what's coming up. We are in sabbathian worship territory, praise them or leave immediately. Th first track, "The Mirror," is a very good starter, slowly letting the listener getting lost in the darkness and liking it. There are incredible grooving riffs, while the vocals are a little cavernous, praying and chanting the reverb mantras. The next song is the tittle one, and is really kicking ass. Fans of WINDHAND and the mighty MONOLORD should listen to this one. The clean vocals are perfect, the riffs are amazingly driven by the drums and all you have to do is raise a fist in the air and sing along. I did my air drumming for the day.

The third track "Repent" continues the work of letting the hell coming out of the smoke. There are great riffs with accents added by their second guitar, adding punch and melody. A few effects are added here and there to help the fuzzy heads have more fun while listening to it. The vocals are enigmatic and dirty while being near and far away at the same time. It creates a nice feel to the song. Pot is legal here in Canada since this week so its like they thought about us writing this song! "Mountain of Smoke" sounds like WINDHAND and that's a compliment. SALEM's POT is influential I think too. There are pounding drums, it's loud, it's heavy, it's FUCKING GOOD. Lewis sings like Ozzy a little and that's a good thing. I like the effects on the voice. It has a little psychedelic feel but not that much...just enough to relax and let you drive the 666 highway arms in the air and laughing at the sky like a demon.

"The Creature Inside You" is their "Planet Caravan." It's a really well rendered song. Nothing much to say if you like BLACK SABBATH, this is one you'll dig a lot. Now lets go back to fuzzy land, with distortion on 11. This song makes me think of FUDGE TUNNEL," kind of their alter ego in the Grunge 90's scene. It's a psychedelic driven song. The guitar lines are like venturing in the haze of darkness but still having fun."Follow Me " is the title of this track and he definitively wants us to follow him. "Cast Away" is the final and last song. We can hear some snowstorm sample with strange bass lines and distorted feedback. The guitars are casting spells on the listeners and the bass and drums are banging the nail into our heart. The backing vocals are cavernous and delirious making the song feel like being help prisoner in some asylum and hearing voices from the past. It has great ambiance. The way its recorded makes it an interesting experience. All ends in the snowstorm we heard at the start of the song and doesn't sound good for the cast away.

This seven song record is very good in many points, it has all it needs to be loved like its predecessors in the genre. They have their own sound and vocals. They are interesting even while revisiting things that's been revisited a million times but it's good, really good, so let's say it doesn't matter. The vocals are consistent, sometimes power efficient, sometimes good clean ones like in "The Creature Inside You".The drumming is flawless the bass too, and the guitars are just amazingly doing the job.EXCELLENT RELEASE! DOOM ON!