Album Review: Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless (Prosthetic Records)

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, out on May 20th, 2022.

Dropping titanic-sized riffs on the skull immediately, Sadistic Ritual get their new album off to a kick-ass thrashy start. End of All Roads is meaty, mean and disgustingly infectious. A track of thrashy, head-banging gold where, just when you think you’ve had enough, along comes a screeching guitar solo to bring things right back up. It’s a very high bar.

How do you follow that? With unrelenting and wild speed. And You… a blistering slice of old-school thrash with death-influences. The guitar soloing on this track, easily one of the best things on the album. Dire Avidity, a fiery and surprisingly, groovy blast of noise and Murmur, a track that has an impossible number of thrilling peaks and valleys. The word that comes to mind at this stage is… addictive.

Another is awesome. Awesome because Sadistic Ritual are really making thrash sound so fresh. Take Maelstrom of Consciousness as an example. A track that has a darker and moodier tone at the start, with complex sounding bass perking the ears up before guitar flair kicks in and the vocals begin to howl with startling believability. Then, the tempo increases and the instrumentation starts to get wilder but Sadistic Ritual are in complete control. It’s a little messy, it’s certainly less palatable than what has come before, yet it’s also incredibly moreish.

It’s testament to the powers of Sadistic Ritual that such extreme heaviness can sound so necessary. Putting it as simply as possible; The Enigma, Boundless is necessary listening and that’s before the second half of the album is even taken into account.

It just keeps on getting better too. More and more bloody, more and more intense, more and more appealing. Head-banging is the only thing you’re asked to do with Area Denial, although your mouth might be wide open in awe of the riffs. The Blood of Memory, a heavy instrumental, with its wicked fade-in and guitar work, will put a sadistic smile on the face. The way in which the machine just powers down out the end is brilliant.

Then Raving Voyeurism brings back the heavier, faster and darker side of Sadistic Ritual’s sound. Before this exceptional release wraps up with the title track and one last energetic, riff-heavy, meaty monster of a thrash track. An ending that is as good as the beginning, The Enigma, Boundless is a banger from start to finish.

Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless Full Track Listing:

1. End of All Roads
2. And You…
3. Dire Avidity
4. Murmur
5. Maelstrom of Consciousness
6. Area Denial
7. The Blood of Memory
8. Raving Voyeurism
9. Enigma, Boundless

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