Hailing from Genoa, Italy, the power trio SATOR present to us their latest release, five years after "Ordeal". "Cleansing Ritual" promises to be the band's heaviest, most psychedelic album yet, and will appeal to fans of EYEHATEGOD and NEUROSIS. Let's get into it! Four songs on one album is the first thing I noted. Doom is often known for their drawn out song lengths, oddly one of the things I love about the genre, so I can't wait to listen to the first.
T
he song opens with a rather ominous voice over, a Scottish gentlemen uttering the message "never get lonely, never get lonesome". Then the dissonant hard hitting riffs hit, as well as the high pitch shrieks of Valerio. I'm enjoying the experimental and psychedelic guitars in this song's early stages too. This is definitely none conventional. Props to the band's creativity. However, I am wondering if there's something missing in the production. Maybe the sole guitar and one bass isn't enough to get that full hard hitting sound they need? But! I spoke to soon. Just check out the mid-point of the song, at 4:30. Honestly, it sounds like psychedelic black metal, if there was ever such thing. Tremolo picked dissonant patterns played at glacial drip speed. For all their creativity, I do also wonder if the song is perhaps too long and drawn out. I found myself disengaging through the slow progression of ideas.

A rather haunting cathedral organ to open "Solaris" is next. This is shaping up to be a bruiser of a track. If you could see me listening to this, you'd see my stank ugly metal face! Whereas I was thinking the guitars and/or bass where too thin on the first track, that definitely isn't an issue here, as all the strings lock in to create a filthy wall of sound, with no discernible gaps. Again, at the 4 minute mark, Mauro shows us his skills on the guitar with some nasty shredding! The pace quickens (relatively speaking) shortly after before a slower period of calm, much like in the opening. However, I still feel that the song is too drawn out and the ideas too slow to develop. In the opening to "Murder By Music", I'm getting a desert/shoe gaze vibe, with a much more positive vibe, rather than the dark and gloomy scales employed in the two previous songs. The vocals do seem to be a lot quieter and faint this time. Perhaps to allow the instruments to do the talking. Half way through, there's some absolutely filthy grooves! Stank ugly metal face resumed! This is definitely a song that grows stronger the further it goes on!

No intros this time with "On The Edge", just straight in with the hard hitting riffage. Again, with their trademark psychedelic experiments on their guitar. Honestly, it sounds like they're just experimenting and making it up on the fly with these guitar effects. Although it's that chaos and dysfunction that makes it work! Three minutes in, and it's like being hit with a freight train such is the force of these bass and guitar lines. Five minutes in, and everything goes quite. All I can hear is the feint ringing out of the guitars. I'm anxious. What's coming next? The suspense is agonising. It was worth the wait, as we're treated to a frenzy, a frantic explosion. I check the clock, and it's 8 minutes in out of 12. Already? I'm being consumed by this absolute juggernaut of a track and don't want this to end! The pace slows down though, and the intensity decreases gradually. Much needed really, as I come down and get back to reality. I'm sat here wondering what's just happened. Where did those 40 minutes go? I'm definitely listening to this again. Twelve minutes have never flown by so quickly.

Like most doom metal, this is an album you probably need to give a fair shot and more than one listen, but definitely do! With some production tweaks and faster progression of ideas, their next album could be an absolute juggernaut. The band also described themselves as one of the undergrounds best kept secrets. That description is justified!