REVIEW: Absent Ritual - The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation of Madness
Just a taste...
19:41 // March 6, 2026 // Eternal Death
The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation of Madness is quite a grand title, despite the diminutive scope of the release it denotes - Absent Ritual’s introductory demo totals three tracks and less than twenty minutes in duration. Despite the small package, though, this newly-formed black metal trio seems to have a lot to say. This demo’s heterogeneity is both its key strength and its predominant weakness - each song stands out positively, but the release doesn’t flow together much at all. Since there’s only three tracks, we’ll take them one at a time - “Darkness Divine” offers us an intensely catchy brand of psych-tinged melodic black metal, while “Ruiner” provides a slower doomy dirge, instrumental-dominated, with moments of hellish cacophony encircling a repetitiously triumphant riff pattern, and closer “A Savage Ritual” leans towards dungeon synth in its approach to eerie atmosphere. The vital thing is that all three tunes are not only competently executed, but sound quite fresh, and I’d be delighted with a future album which focuses its aim squarely on any one of these styles. That said, as a full listen, The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation of Madness falters a bit, as the brief runtime only heightens the whiplash of the varied directions on offer. All in all, Absent Ritual is a band to watch.
7.0/10