A new name is always something that should be looked forward to for the simple sake of truly anything being possible. Sometimes, we’re given names that remain perfectly within the confines of a genre and display a solid understanding of the craft to great effect. Other times, we’re given brilliant out-of-the-box efforts that remind us there’s plenty of room for expansion. Many tend to go for the latter since something new and fresh is a consistently good time, but it’s with the former that greatness can still easily be had in the right hands. In the case of Ritual Arcana with its debut, that greatness has most certainly been achieved.

The allure of the occult is something that has long permeated music, and I can only hope its sway does not fade away any time soon. Some of the finest moments in music are born when a special breed of darkness takes the reins and has the listener travel down a candlelit pathway towards some sort of ceremony that will be completed with blood, enchantment, and sometimes a willing sacrifice. It’s seductive and darkly satisfying when a band manages to channel that glory in the proper proportions. From top to bottom, Ritual Arcana achieves that balance in magnificent form. Across ten tracks that are undeniably entrancing for what they weave out of a thick smoke frothing from the burning of henbane and thornapple, Ritual Arcana possesses you right out of the gate and holds you in place for the entirety of this creation. This is rock that’s heavy, captivating, and more than a little psychedelic at times with the riffs bold beyond reproach. Ritual Arcana wastes no time in putting the listener right under its influence with all being so damn freeing to experience. The glory of life at its highs with none of the lows and a resounding sense of freedom of the self in the face of this mortal coil permeates the whole of what Ritual Arcana delivers in a consistently engaging performance.

The supernatural plays a key role in this electrifying performance with Ritual Arcana clearly the perfect vessel for such splendor to come across in a singularly captivating form. Occult rock is prime real estate for any band that is willing to just go for it and show us what they can do, and it’s in every form that Ritual Arcana proves itself to be a band that absolutely went for it with the results to match.

“Ritual Arcana” releases on January 23rd via Heavy Psych Sounds!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Ritual Arcana” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ritual Arcana on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Ritual Arcana on Instagram here.