Ritual hailing from Los Angeles, California has been an influential part of the metal scene since the early 1990's and is considered one of the
first United States Black Metal bands.
Ritual is known for traditional black metal music with hints of thrash, death and melodic metal. Lyrical themes include: death, evil,
hate,darkness, solitude and despair.
In 1999, select members of Ritual were charged with "defacing a place of worship". After being found guilty, members spent several years in
jail.
Early demo releases include: Blackest of Evil and Mysticism (1993), Goat Prophecy (1993) and Wave to Appear (1994).