ZIGGURAT is a black/death duo spawning from Israel. Having been active since 2015, the band have been growing their sound, and now they have released their EP "Ritual Miasma." This is described as "A truly morbid experience, the five tracks comprising Ritual Miasma indeed induce a miasma that's ritualistic, burrowing deep within the subconscious with a pulsing bestiality". Having been warned what I was in for, I turned the first track on.

The intro of the first track "Ritual Miasma" was enough to keep me in suspense, with a slow, distorted and discorded guitar riff, raw and grainy - dissolving into the air like smoke. Progressively and sluggishly, the guitars creep on and crisp drums step in. The deep, gutsy harsh vocals seemed to be reminiscent of old school death and doom styles, coming into the song with the speedily, snare-dominated blast beats.

"Summoning the Giant Serpent" is a dark and low-toned song, pervading in monotone and un-ease, as if the listener is led into the hovel of the giant serpent. "Blind Faith" has buzzing tremolo guitars, repeating an ominous chord progression. The deep, harsh vocals build up a rough rhythm and momentum throughout the track. The drumming speed picks up in "דיבוק" with experimental blast beats, and slowed, drained out guitars and vocals, creating an atmosphere of bled out color, in a setting that is reduced to greyscale.

"Death Rites Transcendence" is strong and contrasting in sound, with higher-pitched guitar riffs supported with snare, contrasting against lower riffs that are reinforced by tom fills. An ominous atmosphere pervades throughout this instrumental track, as instruments are echoed out towards the middle of the track, before progressing into some catchy and repetitive chord sequences, as drums steadily pace away (taking a break from intensive blast beating). On this final track, it is concluded with the sound effects of screeching distortion, which add to the dystopian vibe that has been permeating the sound.

Through a ritualistic amalgamation of black metal and death metal, ZIGGURAT's "Ritual Miasma" creates a dark atmosphere and stays true to classic, raw black and death metal undertones. Personally, I really like the atmospheric artwork accompanying the release, and highly recommend this album for those who like their music blackened and raw.