Rituals of the Dead Hand are a Belgian black metal band and this is their third album.
Rituals of the Dead Hand contain two members of Hemelbestormer, and bring us a blackened concoction that contains death and doom metal influences spread across 40 minutes.
Rituals of the Dead Hand combine their various elements well, making for music that’s ominous and dark. Hemelbestormer’s skill in crafting mood-focused post-metal landscapes has been successfully transferred to The Wretched and the Vile, allowing their blackened heaviness to build atmosphere and sustain it with ease.
The music is aggressive at heart, but tempered by the emphasis on the creation of atmosphere. The songs benefit from an understanding of pacing, structure, and dynamics, and are built from old-school ingredients that are brought together with a modern execution and delivery.
Keyboards add layers of depth, while blackened groove and walls of doom provide crushing heaviness. Faster sections are blackened and harsh, yet there’s a certain hypnotic quality throughout, provided by the tangible atmosphere and a dissonant edge in places that laces itself into the foundations.
The Wretched and the Vile is a solid album that should find favour with fans of a hybrid form of black metal. If you like your music brutal, oppressive, and sinister in nature, then make sure you check out Rituals of the Dead Hand.