Ceremony Bloody Ceremony

Some bands I deliberately avoid. I have preconceived notions about what they will sound like, and stay away from them. After reading reviews about the first Blood Ceremony LP back in 2008, even though they were positive, I kept my distance because of two things...female vocals and a flute. No matter how many comparisons were made to Black Sabbath, those two pieces insured that I stayed away.

I believe that my musical tastes have expanded since 2008, so when Blood Ceremony were set to release their new album, Living With The Ancients, this year, I figured that I'd check to see what the hype was all about

From the heavy crashing doom riff that starts the first song, The Great God Pan, I was immediately hooked. No one is more surprised than me at how much I'm enjoying this album. The female vocals (which really remind me of the early 90's punk/emo band Junction), and even the flute adds so much texture and contrast to the traditional Sabbath sound...the whole thing is amazingly powerful. Living With The Ancients is definitely in the running for my favorite Metal album of this year.

Regardless of the high shipping fee, as soon as the vinyl was available to order from Rise Above, I immediately placed an order. 330 pressed on red with black swirl colored vinyl.