Ritual Howls

aufnahme + wiedergabe & Slaughterhouse presents: Ritual Howls (USA) live [Felte] Post Punk www.ritualhowls.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/ritualhowls Chasms (USA) live [Felte] Dream Pop www.chasms.bandcamp.com aufnahme + wiedergabe DJs Ritual Howls create a cinematic blend of twangy industrial-rock that could fuel a post-apocalyptic dancefloor. A collaboration between Paul Bancell (vocals, guitar), Chris Samuels (synth, samples, drum machine), and Ben Saginaw (bass), the Detroit trio create expansive arrangements sculpted with masterful production. The band are reissuing their ten year old self-titled debut album on Felte this year with plans for a fifth album in mid-2023. The story of Ritual Howls begins in a southwest Detroit basement in the early winter of 2012. Singer/guitarist Paul Bancell had been writing and performing solo as well as in several bands and was looking for collaborators for a new project. Ben Saginaw (bass) and Chris Samuels (synths, drums, drum machines) were acquatances that became natural fits. With the help of a friend (Jeff Navarre), they recorded their first full-length in Ben's art studio using a laptop. Paul tracked vocals at home in his bedroom and, not wanting to relinquish control, mixed and mastered the album himself. A formidable introduction to the band's haunting, cinematic blend of twangy industrial rock, their self-titled album established the band as a unique force in the landscape of dark music, both past and present. Separated by a decade, four LPs, two EPs later, Ritual Howls is an impressively cohesive first effort and testament to the band's vision that, even in its infancy, forged a distinct sound that has only matured with perfection over time. Chasms is the project of producer Jess Labrador. Layering electronic drum samples and meditative guitars with entrancing soprano vocals, Labrador creates ethereal, percussive dirges often sparse in arrangement and potent with emotion. The project's somber, rhythm-focused sound has evolved through the years to include elements of dub, techno, and ambient, expanding its initial melancholic mixture of industrial, shoegaze, and dream pop.