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RITUAL FOG “But Merely Flesh”
RITUAL FOG “But Merely Flesh”
By Dr. Abner Mality
This fog rolls in from the graveyard and brings the stench of the crypt along with it. OK, it’s another old school death metal album. I know the cemetery is overflowing with this stuff these days, but RITUAL FOG, who I believe hail from the UK, do it like they actually just crawled out of a grave after being buried since 1992. I might even like this more than the latest MASSACRE.
It’s on the Transcending Obscurity label and it’s honest simplicity is a nice antidote to most of the label’s output, which tends to be really technical and dissonant. Those words have no place in the world of RITUAL FOG and I’m into it. I even love the sickly green cover, one of the better ones I’ve seen this year. The album sounds like the cover looks. It’s murky and analog, but not to the point of sounding like it was recorded in a cave. Think of MASSACRE, BENEDICTION, the first 3 DEATH albums. It’s all about THE RIFF and there are some real gonad-crushers here. I love the way that “Slimeblade”, “Fog Sermon” and especially the title track roll along in an evil, deliberate way. RITUAL FOG is not really about speed, but neither are they death-doom. The songs have forward thrust but always a morbid feel.
One thing that does let the record down a bit are the vocals of Ian Younkin, which simply put are thrash metal vocals, not death metal vocals. Material like this needs some dark and gruesome...Younkin has anger but his vocals are the least morbid thing about RITUAL FOG. But they are not game-breakers, either, and you will enjoy this if you like putrid yet riff-bound death metal of the authentic old school. This is one that shouldn’t be overlooked.
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