Psychedelic thrash band Sadistic Ritual have returned, spewing their very metal take on Americana, infused with enough electrifying energy to propel them into the bright future they surely deserve. Ripping their way into 2022 with a freshly inked deal with Prosthetic Records, and the release of their sophomore album, The Enigma, Boundless, on the horizon.
Their debut album, Visionaire of Death, was described by Decibel magazine as ‘a fearsome thrash ripper’, whilst other publications leveled comparisons to the likes of Kreator, Watain, and Sodom. The 2019 album was released after honing their craft – on the road and in the studio – and refining the vision that Charlie Southern (guitar and vocals) first brought to life back a decade prior.
Sadistic Ritual delivers classic thrash licks in spades, set against a backdrop of chugging, headbang-worthy tunes. The accessibility of their songs – which will delight metalheads across subgenres – belies the thought and consideration that goes into each element of Sadistic Ritual. Their strong DIY ethic means everyone’s getting their hands dirty along the way, and allows each member to play to their strengths. In the case of guitarist, Alex Parra, that includes notching up production credits on the recording of The Enigma, Boundless.. Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Tomb Mold, Venom Prison) was brought in to master the album.
With a disdain for authority, and themes of real world horrors – specifically spiritual and political fears being confronted – running through the album, there’s a dark and sometimes paranoid undercurrent to the lyrical content on The Enigma, Boundless, penned by Southern and drummer, Joe Sweat. Throw in an affection for LSD and the psychedelic part of ‘psychedelic thrash’ starts to become further apparent. The Enigma, Boundless was written, recorded, and ritualized under the dystopian schism that was 2020 – and arrives here in 2022 to annihilate the fallacies of a fabricated reality.
