KILL RITUAL, the band featuring former members of IMAGIKA, DARK ANGEL and ELDRITCH, will film a video for the song “Old School Thrasher” on Friday, July 13 at Soundwave Studios in Oakland, California. Mike Sloat (MACHINE HEAD, TESTAMENT) will handle the production, directing and editing.
“Old School Thrasher” comes off KILL RITUAL‘s debut album, “The Serpentine Ritual”, which will be released later this year via an as-yet-undetermined record kabel. The CD cover artwork was designed by Brazilian artist Jobert Mello‘s Sledgehammer Graphix (SABATON, BAD COMPANY).
“The Serpentine Ritual” was mixed at KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque‘s’s Sonic Train Studio in Varberg, Sweden. La Rocque also plays a guest guitar solo on the track “Coat Of Blood”. Guitarist Steve Rice engineered the CD, which was tracked at Fang Studios in San Mateo, California and Fossil Studios in San Jose, California.
According to a press release, “The Serpentine Ritual” “finds KILL RITUAL unleashing 10 tracks of straight-up metal that is both modern and classic while retaining the legacy of their past bands.”
“The Serpentine Ritual” track listing:
01. The Serpentine Ritual
02. Torn Down
03. Time To Kill
04. Ambush
05. Old School Thrasher
06. Coat Of Blood
07. Cold Hard Floor
08. Law Of The Land
09. The Day The World Dies
10. Prisoner Of The Flesh
Formed in late 2010 by former IMAGIKA lead guitarist Steven Rice and drummer Wayne De Vecchi, KILL RITUAL is completed by former ELDRITCH guitarist Roberto Proietti, former DARK ANGEL bassist Danyael Williams and Bay Area vocalist Josh Gibson.
Commented Steven: “After the demise of IMAGIKA, Wayne and I decided to form a new band that would bring life to the music we had been working on after IMAGIKA called it a day. We had a goal in mind of writing music that reflected our influences from thrash, classic, progressive, power, whatever-kicks-ass metal and this required bringing in experienced players that have been there and done that. We were lucky enough to come in contact with Roberto and Danyael, who had the kind of pedigree and experience we were definitely looking for.
“Having both been in bands that have released numerous albums worldwide and toured extensively, they are a perfect fit for this new band. The missing element was, of course, vocalist Josh, who came into the band with the work ethic, experience and attitude that is essential as a vocalist to help the songs take on a life of their own. His unique and identifiable vocal style is the change we needed from our past projects as we definitely had the idea of KILL RITUAL taking a new direction from our collective past bands and I think we have achieved that. I mean, what’s the point of rehashing what you’ve already done? I feel the four rough demo tracks [we have released] show this and are only a hint of what’s to come.”
KILL RITUAL is:
Josh Gibson – Vocals
Steven Rice – Lead Guitar
Roberto Proietti – Guitar
Wayne De Vecchi – Drums
Danyael Williams – Bass