It’s not all that often that I get to listen to Australian Extreme bands, but it turns out that antipodean four piece hail from Perth, and incredibly have only been together since 2020. I say incredibly, because this is a band that sounds like it has been about a heck of a long time before then, and certainly doesn’t seem like a band that is only releasing this as their first album.

Now, in terms of places that seem likely to be the spawning ground for old school death metal of the HM2 Boss pedal variety, Perth wouldn’t naturally spring to mind. In fairness, pigeonholing the band with this description isn’t entirely fair either. Whilst it’s true that this is a selection of songs that probably have more in common with say Grave or Dismember than it does with Morbid Angel or Deicide, they’ve got a few tricks up their collective sleeves. Firstly, this is a band that has clearly spent a lot of time writing their songs. There isn’t an ounce of fat or filler on the entire collection. This is as lean a selection of tracks that I’ve heard in a long time.

There is another secret weapon in their arsenal; that’s the issue of swing. On tracks such as the tremendous “Deadlight”, there’s such a sense of syncopation and – for lack of a better phrase, groove that this is definitely one of the more interesting death metal debut albums I’ve heard in a very long time. They know how to let the music breathe; there’s of course plenty of mid to fast paced instrument strangling, but there’s also some fantastic spaces in between where only the bass, or a minimalist drum beat sounds. It’s refreshing to hear an extreme band that doesn’t necessarily believe that you need to have everything dialled up to 11 at all times in order to produce an effect. I’d liken it to the aural equivalent of Alien (the movie): what makes that effective are the spaces in between and the glimpses of the monster. It’s the same approach here. You may hear the ominous stomp of “Harbinger”, and the resulting bombast as the tempo speeds up, but there are plenty of chunky, slow sections that bring the atmosphere and the terror.

There’s really nothing to quibble about here. The production, courtesy of The Crown’s Marko, is absolutely spot on – with plenty of grunt and power while also having enough clarity to allow some of the subtlety to shine through (and with Marko you always know that the tasty guitar melodies are going to be easy to pick out). Likewise, at a sinewy ten songs, it’s not a release that’s going to outlive its welcome. As it is, it’s a great album and well worth your time. I look forward to the next one, and – if the logistics work out – a tour of the UK would be great.

(9/10 Chris Davison)

https://www.facebook.com/ashendeath

https://bitterlossrecords-au.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-of-ash