Death metal is a style that I believe doesn’t get enough experimentation anymore as many bands go down a few, better-known paths that are appealing to listeners of an already pre-made group. Not often enough do we find bands that truly perform unique slabs of intensity and thus bring a special performance that sticks out amongst the vast majority. Abjection Ritual is a wild breath of fresh air that death metal has been needing, and their upcoming album is the wildcard that I’ve been looking for!

I have a major problem where I judge an album based on the cover art way too much. All too often I’ll ignore an album if the cover isn’t appealing in one way or another. It’s a habit that I’ve been trying to break, but when I saw the colorful art of “Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth” I simply couldn’t resist. What ensued were seven tracks of pure desolation the likes of which we simply don’t get even if you’re constantly searching for it like I do. Abjection Ritual is a name that is brand new to me, but it’s one that I want to become more familiar with because this band has a little from a lot of styles from caustic sludge-filled doom to unyielding death metal to absolutely scathing noise that penetrates the very soul. Every track from “Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth” is the exact thing that puts you on edge and proceeds to peel back every layer of your skin before the bone is exposed where Abjection Ritual gorges itself with malicious noise that’s such a shock and major shift that it makes the already masterfully crafted noise all the sweeter when you hit it. And given the massive diversity of sound that “Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth” brings to the table there’s a challenge the likes of which I haven’t seen since Esoctrilihum’s latest effort or even Full of Hell’s “Trumpeting Ecstacy”, and Abjection Ritual makes it an exceeding rewarding listen in the end! Very few bands are able to create challenging listens and ultimately make them immensely enjoyable as it’s an art that shows the very caliber of a band’s quality, and Abjection Ritual proves their worth with every single note on this slab of mastery.

 It’s always every few months that I find an album that’s practically made to go against many conformities that the genres have made for themselves, and I’ve found the most recent of such with Abjection Ritual in all of their abyssal glory! The entirety of “Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth” is a trial of extreme music that isn’t the most brutal thing I have heard, but there’s no denying is a feat and an accomplishment for this band as it’s rewarding in sadistic ways and challenging in the most intriguing of ways and it gets more intoxicating the longer you soak yourself in it.

“Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth” releases on April 6th via Malignant Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Abjection Ritual on Facebook here.