Ritual Mass is a death metal band from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since their formation, they’ve released a string of
demos and EPs that built a steady underground following. Their sound draws
influence from classic death metal, yet always keeps a sense of oppressive
weight and deliberate pacing. With their debut full-length album, “Cascading
Misery,” they take their most focused and punishing step forward.
“Cascading
Misery” is a bleak, heavy listen, not fast nor slow for the sake of atmosphere.
Instead, each moment is built like a structure designed to collapse on top of
you. The guitar tone is thick and abrasive, grinding forward with riffs that
seem to circle the drain. Drums are punishing, and the bass moves with an
ominous presence beneath everything. Vocals are deep and tortured, buried just
enough to sound like they’re echoing from the abyss.
The album opens with “Obsidian Mirror,” a track that immediately pulls you into a heavy wall of sound. There’s no ramp-up it simply begins, already in the middle of a descent. That continues throughout the album. “Immeasurable Hell” and “Looming Shapeless Entity” carry the same slow, suffocating weight, but each has its own sense of pressure. The title track “Cascading Misery” is shorter, but more direct, almost like a blow to the chest after being slowly crushed.
The atmosphere remains consistent throughout
the 40-minute runtime, never breaking character. “Frozen Marrow” feels like
wandering through a tunnel with no exit, while the closer “Disquiet” is the
most challenging track. At over 14 minutes it drags you further into an already
grim landscape and leaves you there. The ending fades not with relief but with
the sound of everything falling apart.
Ritual Mass don’t rely on surprise or variation to hold your attention. Instead, “Cascading Misery” works like a slow collapse and painful process. It asks for patience and gives back a strong sense of dread. What makes it work is how deliberate every track feels, even when the music seems chaotic and decaying. There’s no sense of triumph or relief here. It’s all decay, all pain, and all extremely effective.
Score: 7.3
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