(written by Islander)
Last summer the Seattle-based death metal band Invocation Ritual self-released a two-song debut demo, and now they’re following that with a debut album named Altered Reality which Iron Fortress Records will release on August 14th.
Even if you missed out on that demo, Invocation Ritual should command attention based on the fact that their lineup includes current and former members of Oxygen Destroyer, Kontusion, and Reburied (among others).
The name of their new album expresses an overarching theme. As summarized on behalf of Iron Fortress, its ten tracks “chart a harrowing descent through psychological collapse, where mounting paranoia, violence, and personal turmoil steadily erode the boundary between reality and delusion”.
We’re presenting one of those tracks today, a furious and stunningly vicious song called “Threat By Example“. We have this comment about it from Invocation Ritual guitarist Paul Richards:
“I took the name ‘Threat By Example’ from a book by Martin Sprouse that’s about punk DIY lifestyles, aesthetics and non-conforming to societal expectations. However, the lyrics are more of a reflection on how people in power dominate society through violence and intimidation. I wrote this pretty intent on it being the opening track, we’ve been opening with this song on tour and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!”
Invocation Ritual give the bass the lead in opening the song. Its grim throb generates a pulse — one that’s segmented by sudden blasts of sound, like gunshots going off. And then, after a harrowing howl and a furious drum eruption, the music takes off in a deleterious discharge of riffing that swarms and writhes like the frenzies of a lethal hornet horde.
Yet the music continues to furiously pulsate too — in the midst of the its swarming and swirling convulsions, the jagged-edged guitar ejects quick jabs (and it also maniacally squeals), and the low end throws heavy punches even as the drumming rumbles, tumbles, and hammers with impressive speed and brutalizing intent.
Near the end the riffing morphs and the insectile pulse within it becomes faster and more feverish, while the drums execute a neck-cracking backbeat and the bass bubbles like magma.
Through it all, the serrated-edge vocals savagely rage and monstrously roar, magnifying the song’s fury. And yet there’s something about the timbre of the riffing that sounds dismal as much as it sounds violently furious, as if to remind us that it’s a bad world we live in.
CREDITS: Altered Reality was engineered and recorded by Paul Wright (bass), Victor Teller (vocals), and Billy Anderson (guitar and drums), with mixing by Anderson and mastering by Greg “Earhammer” Wilkinson. The cover art was created by Dan Bones and Anne Margrete Sjøflot, with logo design by Christophe Szpajdel and photography by Taylor Franklin.
Iron Fortress will release Altered Reality on vinyl, CD, and digital formats, and pre-orders can be placed now.
After the links we’re also sharing the album’s first single, “Decaying Personality“, a hair-raising song that (as the band explain) is “centered on the gradual deterioration of someone once familiar, as their former self slowly decays into someone hostile, distant, and ultimately unrecognisable.”
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.ironfortressrecords.com/
https://ironfortressrecords.bandcamp.com/album/altered-reality
INVOCATION RITUAL:
https://www.facebook.com/InvocationRitual
https://www.instagram.com/invocationritualofficial