Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Life occasionally asks you to dig deep, to dispense with the shovel and spade, and to take up arms against the seemingly unmoveable Earth with a heavy-duty digger, to use the mechanics at your disposal and ask questions of what you may find, that the rubble you have disturbed leads to a core value, a gold stream you may not have expected; such a move does the self-image good, that The Ego Ritual is to be treated as sacred.
By digging deep you may find that a significant reminder of the past comes to the surface, the skill is to recognise what is unearthed as a beautiful technique worth celebrating, of revelling in, especially if it comes in the individual form of the psychedelic movement, a genre that displays character and dignity, one that stands firm in a suit of armour made of image and groove.
It is a groove that The Ego Ritual are happy to expand upon in their self-titled debut E.P., and across the esteemed tracks that make up this formal introduction to the unpredictable and original, James S., William James Ward and Gaz Wilde betray nothing but confidence, a musical buoyancy to which has become expected from the various listens that have been received throughout various incarnations and different band stances.
In the songs Chakra Maraca, Ten Points For The Red Star, Serenade The Ley Line and Days Of Set, the assurance the band creates holds its own smile, the pressure of having dug deep and the sweat broken in the act of ploughing and cultivating from puncture in reality, is one of fulfilment, a memory of the Rock’s passion for embracing a novel viewpoint whilst all the time acknowledging that nothing in life is unusual, it is only the band that sets out concrete evidence to the contrary.
A massive ushering in of a group to enjoy, of an E.P. that seems to hold secrets that are worth removing from their presumed burial place and letting them see the various rays of spectrum light of day.
The Ego Ritual release their self-titled debut E.P. on January 18th via Kool Kat Musik.
Ian D. Hall