Review Summary: In conclusion, Rituals is a hit-and-miss situation. It possesses both blatant failures and obvious mistakes, yet also some truly stellar job that is sure to be expected by seasoned veterans of the genre.
If there's one word to describe Rotting Christ's colossal body of work it would be "consistency". Rotting Christ aren't a particularly technical band nor are they extraordinary in their lyrical endeavors, but throughout 12 full-length albums they have retained a bare minimum of musical quality that remains untarnished. "Rituals" does a good job at preserving this reputation. Is it however a particularly good album?
The album begins promising in its premise: "In Nomine Dei Nostri" while unimpressive, shows the path down which you are taken with this album: Dark, moody with rigidly-paced chants, a melodic undertone that has become a staple of Rotting Christ's songwriting. Perhaps most importantly though is a feeling that we've been here before, a lack of fresh air or resurgence in energy. In fact, "In Nomine Dei Nostri" also manages to clue as in to the actual sound of what will come after, as the melodic part of it is nearly identical to a part of "Konx om Pax".
And this is where Rituals falls flat. It resorts too much to repetition, as if Rotting Christ are not sure of themselves about the path this album is taking and constantly try to cram in parts of songs that offer a smoother transition from their last album, "Kata ton Daimona Eautoy". Other times the attempts at casting a dark, thick veil of tribal ritualism will be interrupted by "For a voice like Thunder" that both thematically and musically seems out of place and forced, despite it being generally enjoyable, with decent melodic elements. On some occasions you might feel like you just jammed the wrong playlist as the sounds and structures of particular tracks are eerily similar to "Kata ton Daimona Eautoy", turning the intention for a smooth transition into downright copying. And the fact "Konx om Pax" copies Celtic Frost's "Innocence and Wrath" for the intro certainly doesn't make the album's situation much better.
So far it seems little is working out for them, heading towards impending failure. On the contrary, there a lot of things to take from this album. Some things about it are so well-executed and fulfill exactly what I was expecting from them in an album titled "Rituals", that I'm willing to forgive most of their poor decisions and several noticeable mistakes. The brooding atmosphere while not building up or amassing to anything that would resemble a climax for the album (let alone each individual track), it creates its own layer of time and space, completely separate from anything you are keeping yourself busy with while listening to it. It's a captivating album, letting your mind loose to wander into dark corridors of your fantasies. "Rituals" (much like other recent Rotting Christ works) is opulent when it comes to offering a profound connection with an inner demon-an esoteric expression-and this is evident after some tracks. "Apage Satana" or "Konx om Pax" which fail at emulating a pure, well-crafted ritualistic nature are overrun by the enchanting mantra of "Ze Nigmar" or "Les Litanies de Satan" (partially performed by Samael's Vorph as a guest). These tracks merge the new sounds Rotting Christ try to invoke with this album and retain the core elements of their legacy while remaining sparing.
Of course, let's not confuse sparing with a lack of effort. The bass line throughout most pieces is positively apparent and leaves its impact felt and the vocals (with the help of various guests) definitely resonate well with the nature and feel of the album. The high production value proves unexpectedly pivotal to getting the most out of each track and showcases how the virtual simplicity in various pieces is riddled with nice touches of a somewhat artistic value. This feature of many tracks will create a usual phenomenon among Rotting Christ works, as the album proves to be a grower and will feel better and more emotionally-dripped after several hearings. It requires some investment and a kind of focus to fully appreciate granting the whole project with a special kind of beauty that I must admit, not many people might share. Combine these with two surprisingly fitting and hard-hitting covers in the likes of "Tou thanatou" and "The Four Horsemen", paying homage to some legendary figures of Greek music, and you have yourself a worthwhile musical experience.
In conclusion, "Rituals" is a hit-and-miss situation. It possesses both blatant failures and obvious mistakes, yet also some truly stellar job that is sure to be expected by seasoned veterans of the genre. One could argue that this album is a disappointment and a failed experiment, with missed opportunities and underwhelming performances, mostly due to the sky-high expectations set by previous releases not being met. That's not far off the truth. Despite these criticisms though, the overall work sounds mature, it's not entirely devoid of thrills to offer and is only shy of being an excellent album like the one before it due to repetition and some uncharacteristically weak tracks that might as well be declared as fillers.
