🎶 Absent Ritual
🌎 New York City, U.S.A.
📀  The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation Of Madness (demo)
® Eternal Death
📅 06/03/2026

ABSENT RITUAL’s debut demo, “The Cryptic Descent: A Compilation Of Madness,” is preparing to burst onto the underground metal scene, introducing us to the band’s identity. A band that moves with an underground style, but with music that shows us something different in their 20-minute demo.

Let’s start with the fact that “The Cryptic Descent…” will be released only on cassette (and digitally, of course), transporting us to an almost forgotten era that many metalheads nostalgically remember for its purity and the excitement of discovery that prevailed. The demo includes three songs, each very different from the other. The introductory “Darkness Divine” is perhaps the most “normal” song, which can be described as melodic black metal, with the drums setting the mid-tempo rhythm and the almost heavy metal guitar solos standing out. Of course, the vocals are as abysmal and “dirty” as needed for an old school aesthetic demo. This is followed by the almost ten-minute “Ruiner,” which treads on doom paths with its slow and almost hypnotic rhythm. It is a particularly atmospheric song that creates a suffocating atmosphere for the listener. The otherworldly vocals reinforce the feeling of discomfort, which becomes increasingly intense towards the end of the song with its slight changes in tempo.   The third and final song on the demo is yet another surprise, as it is essentially an instrumental piece that haunts the listener with its psychedelic paranoia.

“The Cryptic Descent, A Compilation Of Madness” is a bold statement by ABSENT RITUAL, despite its short duration. I don’t know if this is the path they want to follow in their career, but it will certainly be interesting to see what happens next.

★ 7/10
✍🏻 Kostas Boudoukos