Darkness Rites

Spewing forth from the idyllic surroundings of Kemptville, Ont. Darkness Rites are not a cookie-cutter metal band mindlessly doling out heaviosity to the masses: They are Death Dealers. Sporting an extreme six-string blizzard courtesy of Greg Wood and Evan Massey, Darkness Rites immediately set themselves heads & horns above their peers as Steve Morotti’s inhuman blast beats careen dangerously close to the edge, Cory Wilson’s bass fortitude keeps the low end flowing. Rounded out by Mike's meaty larynx power, the band’s primal attack is ramped up considerably. With nods to the Black Dahlia Murder and At The Gates, Darkness Rites utilize melodic six-string pyrotechnics and heavy thrashdowns with gleeful abandon but don’t call it “core”: These are Death Dealers. The band explodes within the confines of its natural habitat: The Stage. With incomparable energy and fluid dexterity, songs from their latest release, The Accuser, come to life with blackened ferocity. Whether sharing the stage with tech-heads Neuraxis or denim-clad demons 3 Inches Of Blood, Darkness Rites hold their own- they are Ottawa’s go-to grinders when an opener for any major metal militia is needed, and with good reason. Fusing taut songwriting, creative expression via extreme metal and a thoroughly headbanging vibe throughout, Darkness Rites are poised to follow Buried Inside and Fuck The Facts as the Ottawa area’s major metal exports. When you’ve seen so many metal bands, when you have perused countless faceless metallic submissions, when you sift through the mountains of garbage unleashed by metallic hordes every year from all over the world, Darkness Rites become a blackness at the end of light, a burning sun rife with embers of potential set to blow eardrums and melt faces on an international scale. Know that Death Dealers stand up and shred. Darkness Rites are the real deal, poseurs beware! -Shawn Jam Hill/Ottawa Citizen- Melodic Death metal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.