Gates To The Ceremony

I was recently on a stoner/doom metal kick. The Sword, Pentagram, Danzig, Trouble, High On Fire, plus a bunch of Rise Above bands were getting high doses of exposure in my daily playlists. When Rise Above posted the new Gates Of Slumber and a re-issue of the first Blood Ceremony album in their webstore, I didn't think twice about the shipping charges, and just placed my order.

The last Gates of Slumber album, Hymns of Blood and Thunder, really grew on me, so when I heard that the band had a new album due this year, I was looking forward it's release. While Hymns had some straight up traditional Metal, The Wretch is just soaked in Doom. While I didn't initially like The Wretch as much as their last album, this one is really growing on me.

I almost ordered the Die Hard edition for this LP, but the clear vinyl was more limited, so I went with that instead. Limited to 100 on clear vinyl.

I had passed by the first Blood Ceremony album when it was initially released in 2008. A female fronted, Metal band with a flute? No thanks. Not my thing. Pass. While I might have been a little closed minded back then, I took a chance with the new Blood Ceremony, Living With The Ancients, this year and it really opened my eyes. Thank you Rise Above, for capitalizing on the bands new release and repressing the first album on vinyl for those of us that missed out the first time around.

I'm glad that I waited until this year to check out this band, because the first Blood Ceremony album pales in comparison to the new one. Sure the first one is decent, and you can hear the beginnings of greatness...but man, they really put things together for the new album. Still, as a big fan of Living With The Ancients, I'll give this first album regular spins as well.

The one thing that I enjoy more on the first album is the artwork. The new album doesn't really do anything for me visually, but that first album looks pretty cool.

Limited to 100 pressed on clear vinyl.