Rituals from Phoenix, AZ play a blend of slow, heavy, and pummeling riffs with a mixture of sonically versed melancholy melodies. This music comes from the stomach. There are 5 tracks on this release. As you listen, set aside expectation. Put away your thoughts about what you think the work should or does sound like. It is not about the definitive. It is the execution. The temporal and the fleeting. You need to understand: This is the moment, captured. Emotion plus volume. This record is more concerned with texture, using a sense of sparse minimalism and repetition to achieve gradual, swelling impact. Tracks frequently stretch out to 7 min., taking their time to unfold and develop into epic soundscapes. The distorted guitars are augmented thundering drums as the harsh vocals paint images of nomadic cultures and cracked earth under a burning sky. In other words, can be a classic. Fans of brilliant, emotive, progressive music (hardcore, metal or otherwise) must have this one.