A solid foundation can be all some bands needs in order to seize their opportunity for greatness. It can be something quite simple, yet it can effortlessly become the sole factor between a band landing firmly on their feet or falling flat on their faces as they attempt to grasp ahold of something they don’t yet fully understand. When Rötual came around just two years ago, it was clear that their brand of death-doom was something that demanded expansion, and it’s now with a fully realized sound that Rötual sticks their own landing with magnitude and finesse the likes of which this sound is always in need of.
While it’s always tempting to try and make something your own in an incredibly big way such that you leave a supreme impression upon any and all who come before your creation, it’s oftentimes the case that the simplest and most straightforward of creations are those that are the most effective. Without any frills and ensuring the vision doesn’t become some bloated abomination looking to grab at straws in some false reach for greatness, an album that remains straight and true is one that holds great power. For all that it offers, “For the Dead” is nothing if not overflowing with immense power. This isn’t the sort of death-doom that has any sort of glamour or sheen to it. Rather, Rötual furthers their established sound as something that is downright filthy and riddled with decomposition, but never once does Rötual lose its sense of form or structure in the name of that nastiness factor. “For the Dead” is a tremendously melodic piece, knowing precisely when to lean into those tendencies and throwing down well-calculated riffs to make the album an outright earworm that is constantly beckoning you deeper into the long-forgotten tomb Rötual calls home.
By all accounts, this is not a record that sought to reinvent the wheel or challenge the core concepts of the genre. Instead, Rötual leans into both their strengths and the highlights of the style at large to showcase not only their passion for the craft, but how potent and irrefutable their intensity is be it through the riff or slow, brutal evisceration. “For the Dead” has both in great measure.
LISTEN to “For the Dead” on Bandcamp here.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGmFRFH7Al0