Hour of 13 - The Ritualist

These days doom metal is being honed to its finest, sharpest point right here in the U.S. It’s garnering much more attention in recent years and now it’s emerging from the deep, evil recesses of…North Carolina, no less? Well, it has, and the duo known as Hour of 13 has released the sophomore effort, The Ritualist, which is one hell of an album!  

The duo that makes up Hour of 13 is Chad Davis and Philip Swanson, both of whom have extensive lists of other bands they’ve contributed to over the years. All I can say about Swanson’s vocals is they are precisely what doom metal should sound like. Try and picture a coherent Ozzy on Master of Reality with a touch of an even more coherent Lemmy and there you are! When you hear the first vocal line you’ll hear it immediately. While he retains his own style in the spirit of the two legends mentioned, Swanson is a certain shade above the usual Messiah Marcolin clones I’m so tired of hearing. He and Davis prove that two heads are better than one, and nothing else seems necessary in the studio. 

For much of the crust and sludge that’s been seeping out of late (some of very high quality to boot) the traditional doom is something of a lost art these days. Sure, Trouble is still around, as are Solitude Aeturnus and Cathedral, but those are the legends, the mainstays; nothing new has been coming up to grab the flag for future fans to seek out. These two guys are such a kick right between the ears to the doom scene that every fan from ten years old to fifty can find this album equally entrancing. The songs are still ringing in your cranium even after the next track begins, always a good sign when ingesting such stellar metal music.   

“Naked Star” is Ozzy Osbourne brought back from his illogical reality show existence to the top of the heap. While Davis handles the musical portion of the band with ease and perfection, Swanson croons and wails over it like a shroud over a dimly-lit parlor. Good old-fashioned hard rock meeting that dark and eerie feel of old Sabbath is what makes The Ritualist a necessary addition to your “to-hear” list. The occult lyrical themes (always an attraction for me) are handled with a maturity and seriousness that leaves the silly, gratuitous typicality of satanic topics on the floor.

Other standouts include the NWOBHM-sounding “Demons All Around Me,” which might well have been featured on one of the various comps back in the day that showcased such names as Witchfinder General, Witchfynde, AIIZ or Spider; the old-school feel has not been captured this accurately in quite some time and Hour of 13 has done it to the very zenith of a doomy existence. The entire album sounds like a trip back to Birmingham in the early 70’s where a young Rob Halford and Ozzy were carving their names in the metal altar for all to see and give lifetimes of worship. You’d swear these guys were there too!

The Ritualist is one of the best doom albums I’ve heard post-Sabbath, and for me that’s a mighty tall order to fill. Try them and I promise you won’t be disappointed! They’re the formulaic doom metal band.

Release Date: February 26th, 2010
Label: Northern Silence

TRACK LISTING

1.  The Gathering
2.  The Ritualists
3.  Naked Star
4.  Demons All Around Me
5.  Evil Inside
6.  Soldier Of Satan
7.  Possession
8.  The Crawlspace

Total playing time:  46:12

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*Comments:

April 23, 2010

Reviewer: Chris