This is the fourth album from Irish doom band Nomadic Rituals.
I really like Nomadic Rituals. Both 2017’s Marking the Day and 2021’s Tides were strong and charismatic takes on sludge/doom metal, with Marking the Day being especially good. So, it’s great to now have the 43-minute Fust appear.
Fust finds Nomadic Rituals in darkened, crushing form. It’s massively heavy, yet conveys emotion and mood well. The band craft colossal soundscapes out of slabs of granite, delivering monstrous sludgy heaviness that could flatten mountains.
Fust is made from a compelling recipe of sludge, doom, and post-metal, all blended together with skill and artistry. The flavours are strong, and the meal a satisfying and satiating one. It’s minimally processed, with all natural ingredients, and extremely good for you, once you’ve picked yourself up from the floor due to its immense potency.
Full of rumbling, hypnotic groove, Fust is easy to fall under the tracked wheels of. The songs are unsubtle affairs for the most part, although that doesn’t mean they are without nuance at all. Nomadic Rituals favour a direct approach to their heaviness, both for atmospheric immersion and weighty riffs. It’s raw and savage, in a controlled, carefully channelled way. It’s like the band are all fired up and ready to riot, but unleash their aggression through distorted doom malice, taking their time to express their rage thoughtfully, but forcefully. This is intensity by way of a controlled demolition.
Nomadic Rituals are criminally unknown, yet are one of the underground gems in the UK metal scene. If you’re partial to the heavier, harsher side of bands such as Isis, Yob, Pelican, and Knut, then this is for you.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 