Jersey Beat reviews Ritual Bronze album

Paul Silver at Jersey Beat has kind kind words about Ritual Bronze's debut LP:

“Ritual Bronze is a newer band from Cleveland, Ohio, featuring Ryan Hardwick of Last Gasp, with Bob Adams, Justin Scardami, Mike Wyant, and Seth Hansen. They play 2000's-era emo and post-hardcore. The songs cover personal topics like addiction, relationships, getting older in the punk scene, and living in an age of growing tyranny.

“The songs are big and sweeping, sometimes solemn, sometimes big and angry, with modal and minor keys giving them a melancholy feel. There’s a wide dynamic range, with the band going from a whisper to a howl, guitars going from smooth jangle to intense power.

“One favorite track is ‘Visceral Passion,’ one of the more subdued tracks. It uses an unusual time signature for a punk band (either 6/8 or 12/8, I’m not sure which), that gives it the feel of being both in waltz time and straight time. It starts off with gorgeously clear guitars jangling against each other, and breathy pensive lead vocals. As the song evolves it gets less tentative, more intentional, with more distortion creeping into the guitar tone, the volume level rising, the drums beating a little more insistently. But those lead vocals always feel hesitant and uncertain.

Another favorite is the gorgeous instrumental, ‘Ornament,’ with lovely acoustic guitar in the forefront and shimmering electric guitar pulled to the background.

And the lone bright-sounding track, ‘Rust Belt Desperation,’ reminds me of '90s Washington, DC punk and indie bands, making it one of my favorites. It’s got a post-post-emo sound mixed with the sort of indie pop that bands like Velocity Girl and Tsunami were doing, just harder and edgier. An auspicious debut."