After almost 10 years of existence, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s RITUAL MASS are finally releasing their first full-length album through 20 Buck Spin. They’ve had plenty of time to hone their craft through a single, an EP and a rehearsal tape (all collected in compilation at some point). Stylistically “Cascading Misery” seems more similar to the band’s 2021 single ‘Descent / Sepulcher’ and this could very well be a result of the change of drummers between that release and the ones before. These stylistic similarities manifest themselves in the increase of modernity in the sound. As strange as it may seem, the change of drummers has increased the amount of lead guitar work in the songs. But don’t get me wrong, you won’t hear any manic guitar virtuoso antics here. This is a highly atmospheric album and most of the lead guitar work is not very complex, but with choice notes that add tension and trance like atmosphere. This might mean that some parts might contain just one or two repeated notes that bring to mind the Funeral Doom genre, but also a modern approach to Death Metal that has its origin in the forefathers INCANTATION’s focus on evoking a certain feeling over having traditional riffs. Speaking of riffs, most of them are fast tremolo picked notes, but lacking complexity (in a good way). These go well with the many blast beat parts. Besides these you will be met with a lot of Slam Death like parts, but they don’t go all the way in this direction as the drums maintain a more traditional double bass rhythm beneath the riffs. Sometimes RITUAL MASS will almost go into a breakdown part, similar to something you might hear in Deathcore music or styles of Metallic Hardcore heavily influenced by Death Metal. What I can say about these parts is that they firmly place the band in the modern variety of Death Metal bands and that they seem deliberate choices and not a misunderstanding of genre aesthetics. The song ‘Immeasurable Hell’ even contains some harmonic pick scrapes that one would usually associate with GOJIRA, but they have also been employed by MORBID ANGEL at some point in the ‘90s. Besides these highly aggressive parts lacking the syncopation on the drums needed to completely raise a traditionalist’s eyebrow, RITUAL MASS’s music is quite introspective, even ritualistic if you don’t mind the pun. One thing that hasn’t changed much through the band’s history is the vocal style. It’s mostly made up of reverby monosyllabic grunts that are a bit monotonous and unintelligible, but they sometimes break the monotony by going into screams, similar to what you might hear on a BLACK CURSE song. From what I could tell, these screams are a new addition and add to the overall atmosphere of the band’s latest songs. Speaking of BLACK CURSE, if you like that band you might also want to give RITUAL MASS’s “Cascading Misery” a try, and to perfectly triangulate, maybe you’re also a fan of MORTIFERUM and CIVEROUS, then you really shouldn’t miss this one either. www.instagram.com/ritualmassdeath, https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com