Presented as a psyche-wrenching false theosis extracted from melancholic minds this debut full-length album from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based death metal quartet RITUAL MASS persists in cataphatic exploration of weakness, a denigration of piety into despairing acceptance of cold mortality. As the product of nearly ten years of road and rehearsal built action ‘Cascading Misery‘ impresses not only for the vortex of careful choices it’d taken to arrive upon this high point of muse but also a clear enough identity which celebrates both form and formlessness in building their kinda moshable, endarkened ouevre. Moldered under a greying shade of callous, cavernous doom n’ gloom yet greatly tightened in structure their work here is both atmospherically rich and erratic in its trailing points of possession as their exploration of the expanse yields only deeper vexation.

Ritual Mass formed as a quartet circa 2016 between folks who are generally anon, though I believe at least one member played in sludge metal band Pray For Teeth prior. They’d put themselves to work for a first tape (‘Demo‘, 2017) soon after, a rough ~14 minute sketch of what we could consider mid-paced death metal of the era: Moderately complex actions built around simple-as-possible tropes with some muscle memory for crust, sludge, and hardcore still in their grip. The goal was probably ‘old school’ death metal associated sounds but the actual structures imposed were so tentative (re: post-metallic in shape) it wasn’t so clear where they were headed ’til the impressive ‘Abhorred in the Eyes of God‘ EP released mid-2019. It’d had more impact on physical release in 2020, a time when general death metal fandom were (and continue to be) swamped with less-than compelling “vignette-core” where tropes and transitional fugue are exercised rather than built into songs. I had a good time reviewing that fairly short EP, commenting: “They’re not a deathcrust band, but they could hang with ’em, they’re not a “caveman” merch-meme death metal band (but they could hang with ’em), and it seems the angle these guys are aiming for is a solid enough mix of simple groovin’ and easygoing pure death metal.” I’m not sure the tone of their lyrics matched the low-slung groove of it all but there’d been little time to give it much serious thought when buzzing through its ~12 minute length.

While I’d enjoyed some of Ritual Mass‘ grooves on that first EP the “Descent” portion of a 2021-released cassette single (‘Descent/Sepulcher‘, 2021) was the main reason I’d been looking forward to more material from the band thanks to the single’s tougher, more traditionally struck and quasi doomed sound. As it turns out that was partial telegraph of the changes one’ll find on ‘Cascading Misery‘ here several years later. Opener “Obsidian Mirror” bears a fair enough collection of traits old and new between its tremolo-riddled caverncore-esque dirge in and the dramatic swipes taken ’til the solo flinging Autopsy (or, Morgue) worthy swinging dive into the song’s droning groove hits around ~2:23 minutes in. Choppy, chugged at congestion and sickly arpeggiated dressing generate a tone of furor and remission, a crippling level of despair with little retribution served beyond call-and-response NJ/NY death metal riffcraft help to build a statement out of otherwise largely atmospheric gestures otherwise on this momentum-setting opening piece.

The perceived space allowed ‘Cascading Misery‘ via production values offered by Greg Wilkinson (vocals engineered by John Kerr otherwise) initially distracted from the brutal, moshable tract of action in hand. “Immeasurable Hell” most notably benefits from that level of imposing, upward-shot hollowness as the rant of their riffs otherwise speak to modest technicality. The effect is frustrated rather than fronting, allowing some mysticism into a skeleton which is otherwise practical in its attack. I do still find some of Ritual Mass‘ work treads water between atmospheric death metal expression and a sort of atmospheric sludge effected ear for dramatic, confrontational noise. It works best when sidled next to riff-after-riff braced action and most notably the spitting and slinging build of “Looming Shapeless”, probably the best argument made here for their insight into pure death metal related rhythms and dramatic atmospheric gloom on the full listen for my own taste.

The eruptive, spastic pinch-harmonic peppered torsion of “Frozen Marrow” holds up just as well but ventures into a toughed-up, chaotic mode overall that might’ve impressed more readily way earlier on the full listen. Where it is set now means it’ll likely be overlooked or just outshined by the deeper breathing ‘epic’ closure offered by ~14 minute endpoint “Disquiet” but the dissonant crunch of their riffs, the sleazy Azagthothian lead and brief use of synth toward the end didn’t go unnoticed on my part. “Disquiet” otherwise dominates Side B with many of the same Incantation-esque motions, sharply brutal punctuative stabs, and lumbering cruelly-phrased riffs. Nearly four minutes of spaced and forlorn pause ensure the song isn’t a complete barrage, eventually giving way to an ending worthy of a mid-to-late 90’s Neurosis album. There is an eerie yet frustrated distance available to this album on all fronts and despite it taking some patience to fully absorb the grand finale here it all makes great sense where things end.

Though I wouldn’t accuse ‘Cascading Misery‘ of being outright approachable, or, easily parsed of its finer details there is a certain allure available to Ritual Mass‘ otherwise brutally struck vision. A combination of distanced estrangement and wrathful barrage speaks to various underground niche of old immediately yet there aren’t any mind-whippingly memorable moments within their action. I will say that what’d appeared to be a fairly straightforward, huge sounding record did ultimately reveal some well-thought and oft chaotic death metal rhythms (or, riffs) as its key interest and that’ll be the main point of lasting value for those willing to delve beyond face value and crank the volume a bit. Otherwise I’d found the overall layout and cover painting by guitarist P. Trona to be especially representative of the greater experience, a walk through a sunless plane surrounded by shadowy torment. A fine debut worthy of a high recommendation.

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