ALBUM REVIEW: The Enigma, Boundless – Sadistic Ritual
If you were to write a list of words typically associated with thrash metal it would probably be a while before you came to ‘psychedelic’. Savage? Sure. Fast? Obviously. But psychedelic? Isn’t that more for doom metallers, or stoner rockers, or progressive whatever-ers? Well, not if SADISTIC RITUAL have anything to say about it. The Atlantan four-piece are as thrashing as they come, ticking all the right boxes in a manner that would make KREATOR proud, but they also lay claim to that key concept of psychedelia, seemingly far more interested in mushrooms and LSD than the comparatively more pedestrian beer-guzzling one might typically associate with the genre. The Engima, Boundless is their second full-length album, and first for the do-no-wrongers in Prosthetic Records. Whether they nail the balance is perhaps up for debate, but there is definitely much to like here.
Firstly, it’s probably worth clarifying that this isn’t GRATEFUL DEAD, or even BLACK SABBATH for that matter. You won’t find loads of overly-protruded jams or random instruments from distant lands on this record. Instead, SADISTIC RITUAL use typical thrash metal hardware to induce their most mesmeric of acid trips. Recent single Murmur is a prime example, its main riff almost swinging back and forth like a hypnotist’s pendulum. Maelstrom Of Consciousness is similarly winding and trance-like, especially towards its end, and it arrives directly after Murmur for arguably the most engrossing pair of songs of the nine on the album.
Another element of the psychedelia on The Enigma, Boundless comes from its often esoteric lyrical content. This almost seems to look outwardly and inwardly simultaneously, with the band drawing inspiration from real world horrors to weave complex pictures of paranoia, anxiety and solitude. Their meanings are rarely all that obvious, but it is hard to shake the sense of dystopian unease that comes creeping through lines like “imprisoned by the reality of your own device” and “the unsettled mind can never be pleased”. Maybe these are revelations from the darker side of a trip, or perhaps they just sound cool; either way, the results are definitely worth sitting down with and at least attempting to digest.
If there is one gripe here, it’s that SADISTIC RITUAL could probably run a little further with their whole concept. Ultimately this album definitely feels more ‘thrash’ than it does ‘psychedelic’. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does just do a lot of things we’ve always kind of expected from the genre – razor sharp guitar work, impressive solos, full-throttle drumming, and a slightly more death metally edge in vocalist Charlie Southern’s fierce barks. Perhaps the only real exception is the instrumental seventh track The Blood Of Memory. This one still has all the thrashing essentials, but the addition of acoustic and slide guitars provides something just a little different and refreshing. A little more of this could definitely go a long way on future releases.
Realistically however that is just a minor gripe. The Enigma, Boundless does what all good psychedelic music should do in that it transports listeners into its own world. One side of the equation may benefit from a little more fleshing out going forward, but in the meantime this is still a solid record whose sensible runtime, impressive production and invariably strong songcraft help SADISTIC RITUAL tick pretty much all the boxes they need to.
Rating: 7/10
The Enigma, Boundless is set for release on May 20th via Prosthetic Records.
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