Blood Ceremony from Canada are somewhat of a oddity in the underground music world to me at the moment.Its interesting to seem them label as Doom Metal because they are not Doom and they are not even Metal.Having said that what they do is some inspiring early 70's style occult goth rock that will appeal to a wide range of listeners out there.Jethro Tullesque passages lead into some sabbath influenced riff sections all held together by Alia O'Brien's earthy voice.Master Of Confusion begins with some organ work the likes of Black Widow would be proud of before launching into some sinister riffing of the Sabbath variety.The next real killer track is Into The Coven which twists and turns and really sets the tone for the rest of the album.The occult rock thing has made a real comeback over the last few years starting with bands like Witchcraft and while Blood Ceremony do use a hell of a lot of cliche's to get their messages of sorcery across they do it so good the songs do get stuck in your brain.The lyric "They smoke black drugs with Satan's bong" and i hope i heard that right is a classic example of where this band is coming from.Guitarist Sean Kennedy do some fine Iommi style soloing but without the bombastic guitar tone of Sabbath but that just adds to the earthly vibe of the record.
The second half of the album is when things really start to cook though, "Hop Toad" and "Children of the Future" both have some great mood and tempo changes while album closer "Hymn to Pan" may be the most well constructed song on the album.The second half of the album showcases O'Brien's sultry vocal delivery which wouldn't sound out of place in the late 60's,Grace Slick comes to mind when listening to her vocal approach.The production has a distant feel to it like it was recorded in some swamp land somewhere with Marshall stacks buried in mud but that just adds to the beauty of it all.I have no doubt that in time this will be regarded as a classic but don't be mislead into thinking this is a real heavy record just because its on the Rise Above label,this album is almost like a tribute to the days when records meant no frills and more important a real attempt at solid songwriting.
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