Rites: II

The feeling of when you discover a band and enjoy the shit out of em’ and then when you go to find more of their music and discover that they have broken up – is very similar to a cock block. Being denied that excitement is a total buzzkill and makes you give the cock-blocker the dirtiest look. Well surprise motherfucker – Rites broke up soon after releasing their second EP, II and play a pretty good mix of sludge and stoner metal. Rites are a four piece straight out of Ireland which coincides with the magnificent rise of metal coming out of the emerald isle such as Altar of Plagues (who also broke up) and Malthusian.

The EP starts out with “Threatened Shelter”, a six minute track that begins to build up the tension with some solid sounding drums and slightly fuzzed guitars. The rhythm is straight stoner and is the somewhat catchy but leaves a strange feeling of something missing. It feels like there should be more to it or a sudden hook is about to slam in but nothing really happens. The bass is pretty good but it does exactly what a stoner/sludge band needs and solidifies that sludge sound. A bit more bass during the slow moments would be perfect to the overall sound.

The second track, “The Mountain Fire” kicks up the notch and quickly gets to the meaty riffs. The guitars improve and bring in some good ole doom. It is not soul-crushing but is more similar to the band Sleep. Towards the end of the track, it begins to get really heavy and transitions well into the ten minute “Quarry”, which shows off their creativity more than any other track. The vocalist throughout the song has dual screaming and clean, which is not necessarily bad but the cleaner variety detract away from the screaming and would have been better separated. The guitar solo near the end is very well-crafted and a great addition to the song before it fades. The last track, “Lured Against The Rocks,” is a short three minutes that is half atmosphere and half stoner with a brief sample that does an alright job ending II.

It’s a shame that Rites had to call it a day because there is potential in their sound for a great album to be released but II does not adequately satisfy that faith in their artistic prowess. So far they are still active on Facebook (see link below) and have II for name-your-price on Bandcamp. Go show em’ some love.

 

Rites Official Facebook

Written by Cole Olson

Rites: II
Self-Released
3.5 / 5