(For the Dead, released in March on Remorseless Records, is the first full-length from the Canadian death-doom entity Rötual, and what follows is Comrade Aleks’ interview of band-member Nicolas Miquelon.)

Since the release of the Canadian Norilsk’s first album, I haven’t missed a single one of their albums, and at some point I noticed that their guitarist Tom Hansen and vocalist Nic Miquelon, alongside their comrades Ben Bertrand (bass) and Mike Berrigan (drums), had formed a side project called Rötual. Over the course of a couple of years, the project grew into a band and recently released their first full-length album.

While Norilsk has taken liberties with the doom genre throughout their career, allowing for various experiments in related areas, Rötual strictly adheres to quite traditional death-doom. The men have invested expertly in the material and managed to successfully include virtually every element in the album For the Dead, from short bursts of lead guitar to its massive and dirty riffs, from growling parts to brief passages of clean vocals – and all in all it works and hooks.

The band’s ideology adheres to a pernicious, deadly canon, as evidenced not only by the cover and the album title, but also by track titles like “Mycelium,” “Worms,” ​​and “To Live Is to Rot,” which I adore for its mournful, clear-voiced chorus. At the same time, For the Dead doesn’t feel particularly decadent – ​​it’s clear that the band approached the work creatively, not simply taking the framework of ’90s death-doom but transforming it with their own ideas. As always, there’s hope that such a move as an interview may draw more attention to the band, and here we are to spread the word For the Dead together with Nicolas Miquelon. Continue reading »