天湖 (Sky Lake)

In typical speech, to say a metal band is melodic is to insult them, but the label is unjustly pejorative. Whether they are labeled such or not, most metal bands are melodic, but there is a difference between the good ones who do not sacrifice aggression for melody and the bad ones who do. Ritual Day falls under the first category. “Sky Lake” is a refreshing example of melodic composition done right in a way that harks back to the classics of the genre, while also doing something original.

Though the vocalist sounds like Valfar of Windir, the album is most like a cross between Dissection and Emperor, without the keyboards. Each track is bombastically energetic with a slightly messy production quality. The tremolo patterns sound crisp and cold, while the drums, when they go full swing into blastbeats, clamber noisily. The structures are varied enough that the listener doesn’t become worn down by the production. For instance, the drummer isn’t always blastbeating. “The Unholy Year Is Coming” opens with drum fills that are rarely heard in black metal, and many more times the drums recall older heavy metal before going into typical black metal territory. Occasionally, Ritual Day even change up the formula with acoustic passages. “Brown Carriage” starts with acoustic chords, “Inhuman” is interrupted by a thirty-second-long interlude, and “The Unholy Year Is Coming” takes a more melancholic turn with its own interlude. All of these passages would not be out of place on a Dissection release.

“Sky Lake” isn’t chained down by these comparisons, however. The album’s biggest claim to originality is its heavy use of lead-work and solos. Almost every track contains a solo, and they aren’t of the fuzzy, poorly-written sort. Instead, they are incredibly clean and are reminiscent of early melodic death metal, though less restricted. Soloing certainly isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s atypical in black metal. When it is done, it’s usually for atmospheric addition, rather than structural frills. Ritual Day aren’t excessive in their compositions, but it is questionably how necessary each solo is to its respective song.

This idea applies to the album in its entirety. I haven’t pulled many songs out by name because it’s difficult to say just how necessary each one is to the whole. Each one is a well-executed piece of work that is certain to please both casual and hardcore fans of the genre, but “Sky Lake” lacks character, mainly because each track has only circumstantial relevance to the one that follows. Though each is internally coherent with its own structural themes, the songs are really independent constructions tied loosely together under the banner “Sky Lake.”

Ritual Day are quite capable of composing songs well, but composing an album is another story. Regardless of just how talented they are, the fact that the band even makes the music that they do in a country like China is a testament to the amount of ambition they must have. “Sky Lake” is essentially a well-executed collection of songs that will satisfy any fan sifting through Darkthrone and Burzum clones for something original. The album may have come too late to the genre to be considered a classic, but it is a welcomed addition to the noticeable dearth of metal bands coming from the Far East.

I first heard of this band while searching up good Asian bands. I then asked a friend of mine to help me get it. He did, and now Ritual Day's Sky Lake nestles in my CD rack for about periods of 5 hours before it temporarily moves to my stereo.

Ritual Day plays melodic yet aggressive black metal akin to old-school black metal like Draconis Infernum, which mixes drums, guitar, bass and vocals but not keyboards to create a dark, yet melodic sound. While it does not have the epic feel a keyboard can provide, like Emperor's In The Nightside Eclipse or late Immortal, it still has the dark atmosphere of say, Transylvanian Hunger, only with a higher fidelity sound. Obviously, they know the obvious distinction between staying 'true' to the genre and making good music, where the latter clearly overshadows the former. The drums are crystal clear, but not overwhelming, and the guitars' every note can be heard. The bass is somewhat inaudible, but at certain points in the album, the pulse of the bass is heard, and shows the subtle driving of the song by the bass guitar and bass drums. Vocals are completely audible, and the [Chinese] lyrics are decipherable after some time with the lyrical booklet...and knowledge of the Chinese language.

Aggression in the music is by far prevalent here, with the opening riff of "Ritual Day", "Sky Lake On The Highland" and "Inhuman" hammering out aggressive beats that set your heartbeat at their BPM for the duration of the song. Despite the aggression, there is still melody mixed with the songs, as shown in parts of "Ritual Day", "Guide By The Truth", "Pirate Of Spirit" and "Inhuman", which features some acoustic guitar, albeit not overdoing it, only to add to the darkness of the song. Any need for keyboards to create an atmospheric feel flies out of the window, as the guitars demonstrate all they need is a person playing them to create smooth melodies out of scales, bends and patterns.

Ritual Day may be only one of many Asian black metal bands on the rise, but it has clearly distinguished itself to one of the best Asian black metal bands, and the best black metal band in China. Leading the Asian black metal movement with bands like Draconis Infernum and Helvette, the darkness of the Asian underground is on the move, and the Norwegian kings may not realize it until it is too late...

Unlike some other bands, there is no intro, you can hear what they want to express from the very beginning, Ritual Day has brought the best black metal music of China, and seems no bad comparing much other bands from all over the world.

They define their music as the "melodic black metal", and it is also true for the feeling of listening. In their music, you can feel a line of melody clearly, and, in most time, it is depicted by the guitar. But we should note that, this band have been founded for several years, and their music is developing, some of the early productions, for example, "The unholy year is coming" and "the Deracinate humanity" are different from some much more recently ones, as the "Pirate of Spirit". The old ones seem more primitive, and the guitar riff is more twisted, with a feeling of colder and darker.

¡°The unholy year is coming¡± once appeared in the compilation ¡°Resurrection of God I¡±, which is a compilation of many underground metal band of China, and ritual Day is one of them who have issued their own album. The song in that compilation is a little different with this one in the album, from which you can see the growth of this band.

By the way, they are not only excellent in the studio, if you have chance to see their live, you may find why I call them the ¡°best¡± black metal band in China.