Rites-s/t

Self-produced
2012

I was asked to review this album from Ireland's Rites. When they mentioned they were a doom band they went to the top of my list to give a spin. This EP begins with an introduction called well "Intro". Not the most creative name, but that thought was wiped out or stomped on as a barrage of drums pours out followed by some swirling riffs. It runs a little under two minutes, but this instrumental manages to begin to set the tone for the rest of the album. "Vessel" lumbers on next slowly rolling out with the notes trickling down. Everything about this song is heavy because it just crushes the senses. The vocals cut ahead with plenty of volume and venom. "Plastic lung" follows a similar style by pushing forward in tiny steps as the music very carefully moves forward with each step being a very calculated attack that has your attention the whole way through. Again the vocals compliment the music as well. "Forging" goes by a more direct route than the previous tracks with the vocals coming in sooner. The song still comes around to relying on deep, thick tones that forge the way through most of the running time. This song really comes into it's own in the final third as the band brings on different passages showing some diversity in their ideas. Closer "Iron Shrimp" is a bit more basic at first, but quickly transforms into into a surging spiral of sound. Maybe the tighest grooves on the album pop up in this song. Overall this album got even better as it went along and it me wanting to hear what they could on a full length album.