You know… it’s been too long since I heard a solid slab of classic-esque heavy metal that really got me going. The last time that happened would easily have to be the last Vhaldemar album which is still fucking top for modern heavy metal acts, and I’ve been itching to hear something from the style that gripped me just as much. I was expecting to find an act that’s been around for some years and had at least two albums out, but what I found instead was a brand new act out of New York that knew just what I wanted!

The list of what I really craved for wasn’t very long: vocals with a great range and sound, fast riffage that’s all but undeniably tasty, and something that simply worships the legends of heavy metal in all of their glory. In no shortage of glory, Ritualizer, with but three tracks on their humble debut EP, “Blood Oaths”, succeeded on a scale the likes of which I never expected to hear from a seemingly random act out of New York which is something that dozens, if not hundreds, of other bands can pass as. But what we get with Ritualizer is a unique fervor and tenacity that we simply don’t get a lot, and it’s something that’s truly infectious, and that’s after you get past all the awesome material that “Blood Oaths” claims in 22 minutes! You could place this album pleasantly in the golden age of heavy metal and it would seem perfectly at home given Ritualizer nails everything flawlessly on their first go! None of these tracks go below five minutes which can be a bit daunting for some, but Ritualizer makes it work gorgeously without error to make “Blood Oaths” a truly intoxicating and infectious EP that I simply cannot stop listening to. We got the riffs. We got the awesome as fuck vocals. We got the perfect attitude. We got the execution that’s virtually flawless. By the end of “Blood Oaths”, I only wanted more! There are very few times that a simple three tracks on a bands debut EP can be as flavorful, astounding, and straight up magnificent, yet Ritualizer has done just that with nary a flaw in sight, and I still can’t get over the glory of this EP even after listening to this EP for hours at this point.

The year is over in just over two weeks so my list has been virtually set, but Ritualizer has the very obvious potential to make it on a future list of mine with material that will hopefully be dished out, and I can promise you that I will be all over that tastiness! There’s nothing but fabulous and excellence here with “Blood Oaths”, and if it’s just a taste of what to come I’m simply salivating to hear more!

LISTEN to “Blood Oaths” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ritualizer on Facebook here.