Prog Archives

I've been a fan of RITUAL since their splendid self-titled debut on the Musea label in 1995. I even liked their not-that-much-talked-about “Superb Birth” album from 2000. Patrik Lundström is a wonderful vocalist who also sang on the comeback album “Notes From The Past” from the Swedish progressive veterans KAIPA. “Think Like A Mountain” is RITUAL's third full-length album. RITUAL's music is complex and they tastefully blend acoustic and electric instruments. There are reminiscences to The FLOWER KINGS, GENTLE GIANT, JETHRO TULL, LED ZEPPELIN, YES, and influences from Swedish folk music. RITUAL has created a unique sound and actually they aren't comparable to any other band. To categorize them as progressive rock isn't entirely correct either. Some of the highlights are the opening track “What Are You Waiting For”, “Humble Decision”, “Once The Tree Would Bloom”, the title track “Think Like A Mountain”, “Moomin Took My Head” (they seem to be big admirers of the Moomin trolls as the first CD also contained a track inspired by Tove Jansson's characters) and “Infinite Justice”. It's hard to talk about favorite tracks when the album is filled with great songs. So far RITUAL has never let me down. They're one of the best bands in Sweden regardless the genre and they deserves all the recognition they can get.

Greger Rönnqvist

Dutch Progressive Rock Page
It is amazing to me the amount of great and diverse progressive rock music that has been coming out of Sweden lately. I became interested in Sweden’s Ritual last year with Kaipa’s return album, which features the singular vocal styling of Patrik Lundstrom, lead singer and guitarist of Ritual. But since I had never gotten a hold of one of their albums, I jumped when the opportunity arose to review Think Like a Mountain. To be sure, this album was not what I expected it to be, and it was different enough from whatever pre-conceptions I might have had that I wasn’t sold on it after my first listen. Given two or three listens though, and I was convinced, this is a great album.
With this CD, Ritual celebrates their tenth year together. It is their third release and comes on the heels of the highly regarded Superb Birth. Think Like a Mountain is not a concept album as such, but an album whose songs are, for the best part, thematically related by an ecosophical thread. Here, the band has put together a collection of twelve songs. You’ll find groove oriented hard edged rock such as the opening track What Are You Waiting For and Infinite Justice and much less driving acoustic folk tinged songs like Once the Tree Would Bloom and the fantastic and haunting Moomin Took My Head. There are lots of unexpected and interesting sounds and effects as well as very creative engineering throughout the album.
Patrik Lundstrom’s unique and expressive high tenor voice can be as aggressive as it can be soothing, sometimes calling to my mind Freddy Mercury, Robert Plant, or even Dennis DeYoung. His guitar playing is likewise impressive and original, whether creating a soul-stirring slide guitar solo or laying down infectious electric or acoustic grooves. Bassist Fredrik Lindqvist does a grand job establishing the bottom end with his fresh, exciting tones and sense of style. John Gamble’s indispensable keyboard playing is equally unique and though rarely in the forefront, is integral to their trademark sound. Drumming on this CD is tremendous. Johan Nordgren establishes some serious grooves here, and has a monstrous and subtle kick drum style that very much resembles one of the masters of his trade: John Bonham.
So what was I expecting? Well, having heard the last Kaipa album, I guess I expected more traditional symphonic progressive rock, which this is not. What this is, is a collection of songs containing a sound, which is entirely Ritual. They have their own wonderful way of balancing unlikely and dissonant sounds with more harmonious ones, mixing acoustic and electric instruments producing a dynamic, original, and exhilarating CD of fresh progressive hard rock tunes. So if you’re looking four some driving eclectic rock that’ll turn your head around then, as the opening track asks, What Are You Waiting For?
Conclusion: 8.5 out of 10
Chris Meeker

Prog Archives
RITUAL is a relatively new Swedish band with a very unique sound, using acoustic instruments like violin, mandolina, bouzouki, etc.. Melodic complex rythms reminds of early YES but with a personal and innovative touch. An excellent folk-prog production with skilled musicians.
Claude

Espud.com
Think Like A Mountain? How about Prog Like A Mountain? Ritual conquers the mountain quite quickly and easily with their newest progressive release, Think Like A Mountain. Sounding like a rocky version of The Flower Kings with a predetermined course, Ritual scale up one side of progressive music standards and norms and then scale down the other side without looking back.
What makes Think Like A Mountain a piece of prog to be reckoned with is their knack for creative and lively harmonies and melodies revolving around Patrik Lundstrom's voice. You might remember him from the amazing comeback of Kaipa with their last release, Notes From The Past where he also helmed the vocal lead spot. Lundstrom has a very wonderfully gifted voice and sense of song presentation. Like in Kaipa, his vocal abilities carry each song to a level of prog mastery that is hungrily sought by many.
Of course Lundstrom is only able to accomplish this because of the amazing music on which is allowed to fly. By bringing cultures and genres together, Ritual binds and weaves an array of sounds that not only impresses, but also inspires. The saddened cadence of the Porcupine Tree-ish "Infinite Justice" makes the whole album worth every penny, to the turmoil and chaotic chasing of title track, "Think Like A Mountain". Add into that mix the southern blues infused, "Explosive Paste" and you're covering more of the musical map than you thought possible.
See? Prog is a wonderful thing, and it's bands like Ritual that will rekindle your love for music that was once able to catch and touch your soul.
Rating: 5/5: Progressive music is where it's all at, and Ritual just drop by to show us again why. Thank you.

FishComCollective.net
Before this album hit my mailbox had I never heard of Swedish Ritual. After listening to this album, can I see that that has been a huge mistake. The band are delivering beautiful progressive rock mixed up with a lot of elements from jazz, just as much from folk music and things from a lot for other genres. Even though the music is compiled from a lot of various sources, are the tracks always kept simple. A lot of the time are the vocals running the game. The great sensual and very soft vocal, has a lot of room to move in, and that is totally legitimate. It has a wide range and are almost used as an instrument in itself. The music are clung round the vocals efforts and it creates a greater wholesome. It is seldom that the musicians are showing off. The people in the band are great musicians and they know it. They don’t have a need of showing off. Instead are the powers focused on the compositions, they are very thought through and complete. But all from the guitar playing to the drums, to the percussion, the strings, the flute and the phenomenal bass are great to listen to. The compositions are superb and are always feeding the ears and the brain. The production is also great and is fitting the material of Ritual perfectly. Dynamic and very organic is the code for the sound. Especially the bass is very nice to listen to. But also all the other instruments and especially the vocal have been considered. This has been one of the hardest albums I ever have listened to. It is incredible hard to get on to, caused of the music simplicity, and all the details. The compositions are made intelligent and a bit tricky, especially the first time one hears them. But as the time passes by, is the album becoming one of the most perfect things one can imagine.
review by: nocturnaldk

Der Schallplattenmann
(Schwedische Wertarbeit mit Led-Zeppelin-Touch, Tempus Fugit)
Sehr unregelmäßig erscheinen Alben der schwedischen Band Ritual, vielleicht weil sie bisher nur bei Kleinstlabels unterkamen, ergo kamen sie über den Geheimtippstatus nicht hinaus. Das könnte sich mit ihrem neuen Album "Think Like A Mountain" ändern, denn die Schweden zünden ein regelrechtes Power-Feuerwerk ab.
Anders als andere schwedische Bands, sind sie keineswegs die großen Melancholiker: Rituals Musik sprüht vor Energie, birgt deutliche Folk-Einflüsse in sich und erinnert stellenweise stark an Led Zeppelins Meisterwerk "III". Beachtenswert ist dabei die wundervolle Stimme Patrik Lundströms und das variable Drumming Johan Nordgrens, der den nordischen, arabesquen, angelsächsischen und irischen Folkeinflüssen stets mit intelligentem und versiertem Drumming noch mehr Ausdruck verleiht. Ein klasse Album, durchaus auch für Nicht-Prog-Fans geeignet, Led Zeppelin-Fans sollten auf jeden Fall reinhören.
4/5!!


Sweden Rock Magazine
Å jäklar vad bra! Detta är progressive i ren och skär världsklass. Här
finns allt man kan begära av en proggskiva. Orientalismen i ”Once the
Tree Would Bloom”, musikupptågen i “Think like a Mountain”, KING
CRIMSON-stöket i “What are You Waiting For” och de helt ljuvliga
sångarrangemangen à la BEATLES i “Moomin Took my Head”... Ja, bara att
referera till mumintrollen är värt all respekt!
RITUALs sångare Patrik Lundström har tidigare varit blonderat ljushuvud
i schlagertrion BLOND, därtill handplockades han av Hasse Lundin när
denne skulle återföda sitt KAIPA. Men så klämkäck som i BLOND, eller så
ansträngd som i KAIPA, är han inte här. Snarare låter han som en kusin
till PAIN OF SALVATIONs Daniel Gildenlöw.
Det är oerhört att man i det nya årtusendet kan göra musik som är så
fast rotad i 70- och 80-talen, utan att låta det minsta mossig. Och det
är konstigt att jag inte följt med på RITUALs fantastiska äfventyr
tidigare.
Daniel Reichberg

True metal.it
La Svezia è famosa per la nutrita schiera di gruppi death metal che da questa fredda terra provengono, ma non per questo dobbiamo sottovalutare chi innocentemente ha voluto dedicarsi ad altro genere. Per questo motivo mi trovate a scrivere dei Ritual, giovane gruppo svedese nato nella seconda metà degli anni novanta e occupatosi di buon progressive rock sin dall'inizio. La gonfia discografia rapportata ai pochi anni di vita insieme del gruppo, è sicuramente prova di una quantità enorme di idee e di una altrettanto grande forza di volontà: a noi spetta valutarne i frutti. Non so quanti di voi conoscano questo gruppo, sicuramente il nome che li contraddistingue è stato spesso offuscato dalle band svedesi più famose e richieste dal pubblico. Ebbene con questa recensione vediamo di rendere noto il nome di un combo del nord che fonde le sonorità di Led Zeppelin, Yes e Gentle Giant, alle novità più fresche e promettenti degli ultimi tempi. Assieme ai Pink Floyd del nuovo millennio chiamati RPWL, considero i Ritual di Patrick Lundstrom una delle più valide promesse del futuro soft rock. Sono sicuro che con un disco come Think Like A Mountain il successo sia una volta per tutte riconosciuto dalla critica assetata degli ingredienti qui contenuti: audacia ed energia allo stato puro. Dove tecnica e impatto sonoro restano un dettaglio, viene rivalutato l'effetto diretto ed immediato della traccia con il nostro orecchio. Come riescono a fare tutto questo? Come riescono ad esempio ad unire le atmosfere evocate trent'anni fa dai Gentle Giant ai più sfiziosi Placebo di questi anni? Non lo so, ma il risultato vale l'acquisto. Una cosa è certa, non si scade nel banale e nei ritornelli patetici cui il rock televisivo ci ha ormai da tempo abituato ad assistere, ma piuttosto siamo ospiti di una suggestiva atmosfera firmata Ritual, sin dai primi secondi ispirata alle sonorità indiane.
In blocco citerei la frizzante tripletta di partenza. What Are You Waiting For sfrutta un'introduzione molto speciale per sottolineare l'entusiasmante lavoro di chitarra che dopo tutto costituisce lo spirito generale dell'album, a precedere il disarmante chorus di Humble Decision, la traccia in seconda posizione di cui tanto si è parlato nell'intervista organizzata da Truemetal. Explosive Paste gioca attorno ad una manciata di riff solo apparentemente innoqui per rivelare più tardi le capacità di un bassista saltellante a cavallo del suo Musicman. La cdtrack in sesta posizione assieme ai due brani che la affiancano, scrivono i tre capitoli più riflessivi di questo album dosando con arte dolcezza e distorsioni di chitarra, fino a raggiungere il pezzo protagonista Infinite Justice, titolo che in questo periodo dovrebbe farvi venire qualcosa in mente: perfetto matrimonio fra le caratteristiche del disco più interessanti, sfrutta una geniale sequenza di riff uguali per poi sostituire alla violenza le candide note di arpeggio e voce. In nona ed ultima posizione troviamo due episodi che sembrano collegati sia per il nome, sia per la breve durata che li accomuna. On/Off non superano i due minuti abbondanti ciascuno, e nel primo e nel secondo caso costituiscono rispettivamente un intermezzo orientale che spezza le sorti del disco a tre quarti e una conclusione ipnotica opposta alle esilaranti melodie fino adesso ascoltate. Incastonate in questo particolare duetto, altre due tracce in cui nel primo caso per qualche istante sembra riecheggiare la musica degli Alice In Chains, mentre in Breathing si incontra ancora una influenza molto importante e degna di nota, quella dei Radiohead. Insomma un disco che come avrete capito non puo'certo considerarsi propriamente progressive rock, ma che paradossalmente deve la sua grande originalità e la sua estrema versatilità all'ampia gamma di ispirazioni cui vuol far fronte. Se i gruppi citati sono di vostro gradimento, non lasciatevi scappare l'occasione di scoprire un nuovo delizioso gruppo svedese chiamato Ritual.
Andrea'Onirica'Perdichizzi
80/100

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