Though Samael like to think that their proper beginning was "Ceremony of Opposites", their best work actually came out earlier.
Blood Ritual is a criminally underrated, neglected, and overlooked album. That's alright though, because posers need not be exposed to the skull cleaving demolition that this album brings.
This album is slow, simple, and very effective at creating atmosphere. Vorph's vocals are outstanding-a tortured growl that fits the music perfectly. Also check out the pictures in the booklet if you can, Vorph, Xy, and Mas looked completely badass before decided to do the shaved head thing. I cannot find these pictures anywhere online, nor can I find anything pre-Ceremony of Opposites.
The album starts with epilogue, a short intro that is unnecessary because of the lengthy build up of the first real song, "Beyond the Nothingness". Simple riffage played in repetition should have your neck sore by the end of this song. It's a great opener and one of the better songs on the album.
"After the Sepulture" is the best song on the album and one of Samael's best of all time. It was redone shortly after Blood Ritual came out, but I think the original crushes the remake. Once again, slow, pounding riffage with a fucking EVIL atmosphere. Vorph really goes all out on this one, especially in the chorus. It doesn't speed up, and it doesn't have to, because it wrecks from start to finish.
The only time the disc speeds up is for the title track, "Blood Ritual". Great intro here, then leads into some nice semi-blastbeat action. Like After the Sepulture, the chorus here is the strongest, "Totallllll Consecraaaaation!". It's also placed perfectly in the album, after the slowest song, "Macabre Operetta" and before the intro "Since the Creation".
"With the Gleam of the Torches" is probably my second favorite track on the disc. The catchy intro leads into a nice headbanging riff, which slows down a bit. Like Blood Ritual, this song seems to build up and down in steps, riffs will escalate up and down a few frets before coming back to their original location, it's pretty cool.
"Total Consecration" is one of those songs that really showcases the talent of Samael. A piano piece, it really creates a depressing atmosphere, and Vorph's vocals overtop come across as quite sincere in their agony.
The last two songs, "Bestial Devotion", and "...Until the Chaos", and the third, "Poison Infiltration", are a little weaker than the other songs, but carry the atmosphere of the ALBUM. I capitalize that because all of the tracks really do flow together; it isn't a mix of songs put together and numbered. There is a certain completeness to Blood Ritual that makes everything on it a worthwhile listen.
I find this disc to be Samael's most "sincere". Almost nonexistent keyboards, a clear cut message, simple, ass kicking riffage, and a fuck off attitude. I really have no clue why it's ignored, and I'm not sure if they have played anything off it in the last decade.
Sample:
youtube.com/watch?v=5fQiZ9qozLg&list=RD5fQiZ9qozLg&start_radio=1
