Release date: 27th July 2018
Wound Garden is the second album from industrial band Ritual Aesthetic and to say that this is an impressive piece of work is somewhat of an understatement. As someone who loves their industrial music, I’m always on the lookout for decent bands in the genre, so to come across Ritual Aesthetic is fantastic because they tick all the right boxes for me.
Vocally, Ritual Aesthetic reminds me of Chaosweaver (which is definitely a good thing) as the approach the frontmen of the two bands take is largely the same. The half-bellowed, half-snarled sound is fantastic, and the element of noise it adds to the more melodic lines helps to keep the album engaging and interesting – the aggressive and in-your-face approach really help to maintain the punchy pace from start to finish.
Lead single The Analog Flesh is an early highlight – there’s no surprise why that one was chosen as a single because it packs a real punch! – and fifth track Dread is another very strong inclusion. One of the more electronically-driven and shorter tracks on the album, whilst it may have a slightly slower pace, it gets right to the point and barely leaves you room to catch your breath before it comes to a close!
Ritual Aesthetic have made a seriously kickass piece of work with Wound Garden. This is an album that deserves to be blasted at top volume from start to finish, and listened to on repeat. In short: make sure you check this album out because it’s one of those albums that can’t be missed!
10/10
