RITUAL

Iberic tour with Oathbreaker

2012-01-09T13:50:00.001+01:00

These are our tourdates with Oathbreaker presented by Five Years Shows:

17.02.2012 Belgium, Maaseik @ JH Fuego
18.02.2012 Spain, Barcelona @ tba
19.02.2012 Spain, Madrid @ Barracudas
20.02.2012 Portugal, Lisbon @ Coop Post
21.02.2012 Portugal, Porto @ tba
22.02.2012 Spain, Vigo @ La Fábrica de Chocolate
23.02.2012 Spain, A Coruña @ Filomatic
24.02.2012 Spain, Bilbao @ Gaztetxe Deusto
25.02.2012 France, Bordeaux @ Lectures Aléatoires

Of course, there's also the obligatory facebook-event. Check it out here.

We are super stoked about this.

»Distant Glance«

2011-12-15T22:56:00.000+01:00

Deni made a very simple but atmospheric video for our song »Distant Glance« from our latest album »Paper Skin«. Hope you enjoy it!

Can't slow down.

2011-12-10T20:08:00.000+01:00

I don't sleep well when the next tour has not been announced yet, so here we go: In February we are touring Spain and Portugal together with OATHBREAKER. The tour is starting on February, 17th with a show in Belgium and it's ending on February, 25th with a show in Bordeaux. The exact dates are going to be announced very soon.

We would like to thank Imanol for booking the tour and all the local promoters for inviting us. We're excited to tour the Iberic peninsula and hope for a warmer climate. We are also happy to tour with OATHBREAKER who just released one of the most talked about records of 2012.

See you on the road.

»What is sleep?«

2011-11-16T17:14:00.002+01:00

Geoff Farina asked in an awesome Karate tune. This weekend I actually figured out the meaning of this question. We were on the road for three shows with Rise and Fall, Oathbreaker and Hessian, which was big fun, obviously. It's just that going out and driving home over night (ridiculous van breakdown inclusive) didn't really leave much time to sleep. But I mean I'm not complaining at all - this weekend was great. So we're more than psyched to continue the party next week, this time with our close friends in Patsy O'Hara. Just so you know: These shows will be our last German dates for a long time, so come out and bang your heads!

25.11.2011 Köln @ Aetherblissement w/ The Tourist
26.11.2011 Weimar @ Gerber 3 w/ Underparts, Cobretti
27.11.2011 Bremen @ G18 w/ Autistic Youth, Defect Defect

On another note, we hope to be able to announce something really awesome in the coming days. Be on the lookout!

And now for something completely different: Don't know if anyone of you is into house music, but I just have to post this amazing track. Enjoy!

Two brand new interviews online

2011-08-31T14:09:00.000+02:00

There are two new interviews online. Both were done right after the tour. If you have some time to spare, check them out and feel free to tell us what you think about it.

This one was made for a nice Dutch e-zine called Some Will Never Know:
http://www.swnk.org/interviews/ritual/

And here's a German one. Sorry for not having a translation, maybe try Google Translator...
http://www.burnyourears.de/reviews/interview/14780-ritual-interview-mit-drummer-phillip-zum-album-paper-skin

Another great weekend in November

2011-08-27T22:05:00.000+02:00

Besides our trip with RISE AND FALL, OATHBREAKER and HESSIAN we are playing one more weekend in November. We couldn't be any happier to have our good friends in PATSY O'HARA with us. Check out this beautiful flyer, designed by PATSY's singer Hassan Haider:

Would be cool to see you. Let's have a ball!

FB: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=264371413582053
POH: http://patsyohara.com

It's done.

2011-08-23T14:56:00.000+02:00

We survived one month on the roads of Europe. We already miss our new friends in Soul Control. It's a rare pleasure to meet people that are so full of kindness and humour. We'd like to thank No Decline Booking for booking this tour and all the promoters, hosts and people who came out. And of course all the lovely bands we played with, such as Death is not Glamorous, Cheap Girls, Ceremony, All Teeth, La Dispute, Touche Amore, Lemuria and Landscapes. We hope to see you all again soon!

The first week of tour is done.

2011-07-31T16:36:00.000+02:00

It's being great! We have three weeks left, which means you've got lots of possible shows to go to. Check the dates above to see, if your town is on our route. Soul Control is such an awesome band to tour with. They're unbelievably funny AND nice guys AND they're an awesome band! Listen to them!

Right now we're hanging out at Hafenklang, Hamburg and wait for the show to start. Our tour meets up with The Carrier, All Teeth and Landscapes today. Tomorrow we have our only off day since our first Sweden-show got cancelled. After that we're heading to Stockholm and hope to be able to jump in some of these amazingly beautiful lakes that adorn the roads to Stockholm.

See you somewhere along the way.

Bis an die Grenzen uns'rer Physik

2011-07-16T14:37:00.001+02:00

Wir sind unterwegs
unterwegs zur Musik
bis an die Grenzen
uns'rer Physik
Wir bringen sie zum klingen
Sie bringt uns durcheinander
Wir versteh'n sie so wenig
wie wir uns untereinander
denn in manchen Momenten
ist sie für eine Weile
mehr als die Summe der einzelnen Teile
Wir leben von einem Glauben
der unserer Gegenwart
vorauseilt

Kante, 2001

Next Friday we are leaving for our longest tour so far: We are playing 31 shows in 30 days (indeed we are playing two shows on one day)! We are so excited, we don't even know if it's pleasant anticipation or fear or both of them. However, we cannot wait to play our new songs to so many people all over Europe. Please take a look at the tourdates, come around if you can and bring your friends. SOUL CONTROL are touring with us and they're awesome!

22.07.2011 Belgium, Kontich @ Lintfabriek
23.07.2011 Belgium, As @ Vlamrock
24.07.2011 Czech Republic, Rokycany @ Fluff Fest
25.07.2011 Germany, Dresden @ Chemiefabrik
26.07.2011 Austria, Höchst @ Juz Chillout
27.07.2011 Germany, Freiburg @ KTS
28.07.2011 Italy, Milano-Arese @ SGA
29.07.2011 Germany, Stuttgart @ Juha West
30.07.2011 Belgium, Mol @ Break Out Fest
31.07.2011 Germany, Hamburg @ Rote Flora
01.08.2011 Sweden, Norrköping @ Kulturhus
02.08.2011 Sweden, Stockholm @ Cafe Kupan
03.08.2011 Sweden, Lund @ Hemgarden
04.08.2011 Denmark, Frederica @ Fredericia Hardcore Festival
05.08.2011 Germany, Münster @ Sputnik Café
06.08.2011 Germany, Köln @ Underground (supporting Defeater)
07.08.2011 Germany, Trier @ Ex-Haus (supporting Youth of Today)
08.08.2011 UK, Brighton @ The Hydrant
09.08.2011 UK, Exeter @ Cavern
10.08.2011 UK, Huddersfield @ The Parish
11.08.2011 UK, London @ The Underworld (supporting Strife)
12.08.2011 Belgium, Ieper @ Ieper Fest
13.08.2011 Germany, Schneverdingen @ Move Your Ass Festival
13.08.2011 Germany, Hannover @ The Rise Fest
14.08.2011 Poland, Lodz @ Dekompresja Club (supporting Sheer Terror)
15.08.2011 Austria, Wien @ Escape
16.08.2011 Slovakia, Kosice @ Colloseum Club
17.08.2011 Austria, Steyr @ Röda (supporting Hot Water Music)
18.08.2011 Germany, Leipzig @ 4 Rooms
19.08.2011 Germany, Hohenstein @ Voice of Art Festival
20.08.2011 Germany, Berlin @ Cassiopeia

For now enjoy this classic video:

They call him the saber-toothed tiger.

2011-07-05T00:39:00.000+02:00

'The Great Decay'

2011-07-01T18:15:00.000+02:00

Today we give you another song off "Paper Skin". This one's the opener track called "The Great Decay". It is a very important song to us since this one pretty much set the pace for the writing process of "Paper Skin". After writing this song things didn't seem to be the same.

If you like what you hear, please share this with your friends. Thank you!

The Great Decay by Ritual

Ritual 2011

2011-06-15T00:34:00.000+02:00

This picture was taken two weeks ago by Lisa Meine who works for the German music magazine VISIONS and it will appear in the next issue alongside an article on us, so all you German kids watch out for it. Our friend Casper is in it as well. We would like to thank Lisa for sending us this picture in advance!

Limited silk-screened LPs

2011-06-13T15:04:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Benni/Black Ink our limited release-show-covers are already printed and ready to go. The LPs are limited to 100 pieces and come with a silk-screened extra cover. ONLY available at our two-release-shows in Essen and Berlin!

Release-shows coming up

2011-05-15T16:21:00.000+02:00

Our release-show-weekend with our friends in AYS and MIDNIGHT SOULS is coming closer and closer. It's probably a good idea to get your ticket in advance. In order to do so you can mail to statelesssociety.ruhr@googlemail.com for the Essen-show and statelesssociety@googlemail.com for Berlin.

You're being kept up-to-date by attending the Facebook-event for the two shows.

The Haptic Perception of a Vinyl Record

2011-05-01T22:22:00.000+02:00

...is such an awesome thing! Today we climbed out of the plane that flew us safely from Lappeenranta, Finland back home to shake hands with our new record.

Now that we know the layout is looking great in the printed form and now that we know the songs sound great when pressed onto vinyl, we can truly say we are really happy with this album which we recorded back in the cold days of December and January.

"Paper Skin" hits the stores everywhere next week, so go and get it!

We would also like to use this space to say thank you to our friends in ILLS. We had a great time sharing the van with you again and cannot wait for the next encounter!

Much love!

We're just about to leave to Finland.

2011-04-25T23:35:00.000+02:00

The excitement grows. Tomorrow night we're heading to Weeze airport to take a plane to Lappeenranta, Finland. Our friends in ILLS have invited us to play four shows with them. And we cannot wait to see them again.

We're a little bummed not to be able to offer our new album yet, but the pressing plant had a little delay. It will be available as soon as we return though. We hope it's going to be distributed in Finland adequately, so you can get your copy then.

However, the shows are taking place in these cities and venues:

27.04. Helsinki @ Semifinal
28.04. Turku @ Klubi
29.04. Petäjävesi @ YC Feeniks
30.04. Lappeenranta @ Lucky Monkeys

Come out, bang your heads, talk to us. We're convinced we're gonna have a

Take notice: Release-Weekend one week later

2011-04-01T15:27:00.000+02:00

Due to difficulties concerning the dates we had to move our release-show-weekend. It's one week later now, so we hope you're all still up for it.

We made a facebook-event for both shows together, so that's where you'll find all necessary information once we have them: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138149092922065

Spread the word!

Record-Release-Shows in Essen and Berlin

2011-03-25T23:53:00.000+01:00

While still being on tour with the great Reflections Records package we're super stoked to announce our record-release-weekend. We've decided to do two rather small shows in Essen and in Berlin to celebrate this in an intimate atmosphere. We're absolutely grateful that Stateless Society Shows are taking care of that.
As adequate party guests we've invited our good friends in AYS and MIDNIGHT SOULS. Please spread the word about this. You can also get into the facebook-event. Thanks.
Further information about presale, ticket price etc. are coming up soon.

Absolute Devotion/The Coldest Shoulder

2011-03-16T18:26:00.000+01:00

Dear friends,

we've just uploaded two new songs from our upcoming LP "Paper Skin". You can listen to them here:

Absolute Devotion/The Coldest Shoulder (from "Paper Skin" LP/CD) by Ritual

Please spread the word about this! If you like what you hear, you can preorder our album at shop.reflectionsrecords.com
Oh, and the Reflections Records tour kicks off this Friday. Don't miss it!

Companion Otremba

2011-03-11T19:31:00.001+01:00

There's this really good friend of ours called Hendrik Otremba. He's playing quite an important role on our new record, because he has contributed both a short story and a really nice drawing to the artwork of our new LP. So don't just download our new album - you won't get the full picture.

We really like the way he draws, so we thought we'd let you know about the exhibition he is a part of: On March 27th the vernissage is happening at Galerie Artemis in Recklinghausen. His work can be viewed for one month from then on. The title of the exhibition is »Abwesenheiten« (engl. »absences«) and there are four other young artists participating by contributing drawings, sculptures, photographies and an installation.

Besides being a part-time artist, he's also a writer and publishes his essays on his blog: ekstatischewahrheit.blogspot.com. It's mostly cultural theory related and in German only, sorry. Apart from that he has just started a new band with Pascal and Philipp. It's called »MESSER« and we'll keep you posted about the way this band shaping up.

Thanks for your interest.

(This is not the drawing that's included in our LP, by the way.)

"Kissing Pavement" - Free MP3

2011-03-08T13:59:00.001+01:00

Today we give you a free MP3 (320 kbps) of our song "Kissing Pavement" taken from last autumn's 7" single with the same name. It's still available at the Reflections online store and we'll continue playing this song live. Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?0rgdarx92np90u1

"Paper Skin"

2011-03-03T19:57:00.000+01:00

We're excited to announce the title of our new album:

"Paper Skin".

We found this to be the best way to sum up what is happening on the record. It's coming out on all formats on May 3rd through Reflections Records, but we will already have some copies with us on our trip to Finland in the end of April. Preorders are going to be shipped in April as well.
Reflections Records is starting to take preorders in the middle of March, so that's in like two weeks and that's also when we're going to upload the two songs "Absolute Devotion" and "The Coldest Shoulder" to our soundcloud. So watch out for this! We're also going to play these two songs on the Reflections Records tour already.

The complete tracklist looks like this:

A1: The Great Decay
A2: Reaping Loneliness
A3: Dunkerque
A4: Distant Glance
A5: White Caskets
B1: The Coldest Shoulder
B2: Absolute Devotion
B3: This Shell Has Got a Soul Again
B4: Rusty Fingers Touching Nothing
B5: Pieces of Me

We'll keep you posted about everything. Also watch out for upcoming Reflections newsletters for more information. Until then, enjoy "The Roller" just like we do:

This is it.

2011-02-13T14:27:00.000+01:00

Finally!

These discs are now heading to the Reflections Records headquarter.

Up next: Finishing the artwork.

Reflections Records tour: All dates are confirmed now!

2011-01-29T15:38:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone,

our first tour in 2011 is completely booked now. All shows are together with NO TURNING BACK, DEAL WITH IT and NEW MORALITY. MIDNIGHT SOULS are only playing those shows that are marked. Here's where we're heading to:

18.03. Germany, Ibbenbüren @ Scheune*
19.03. Belgium, Mol @ Jeugdhuis Tydeeh*
20.03. France, Paris @ Péniche Alternat*
21.03. France, Bordeaux @ Heretic Club
22.03. Germany, Karlsruhe @ Stadtmitte
23.03. Austria, Salzburg @ Rockhouse Bar
24.03. Germany, München @ Sunny Red
25.03. Germany, Erfurt @ E-Burg*
26.03. Germany, Rosswein @ Jugendhaus*
27.03. Netherlands, Den Bosch @ W2*

Here's the official facebook-page for this tour. Please spread the word about this!

A quick update on the current state of the new record: We're awaiting the final master within the next week and are working on the artwork meanwhile. We hope to get the record out in April. More news on the title, the tracklist and a first glance at the artwork very soon!

Have a nice weekend eveyone!

ATTN

2011-01-28T23:14:00.003+01:00

RITUAL

EUROPA

GEGEN

RASSISMUS

(by: Hendrik Otremba, aus Holland)

Day 6

2010-12-31T14:55:00.000+01:00

"A perished relationship, a gift to the sea. I'm still searching the dirt for pieces of me. You could never give me what I need. I know it's hard to believe. We drift apart, we got lost in this city's sleeping streets. And I got rid of the dreams you had left inside of me."
from "Pieces of Me", the last song of our new album

This is a harmonium:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonium
Since the tones are being produced by air, it sounds somewhat similar to an accordion. It was an urgent wish of ours to include this instrument on our new album. We love the sad, yet beautiful sound of it. That is exactly what we thought would fit to our new draft of hardcore.

I love classic synthesizer music like this:

but the harmonium sounds way more organic, for sure. But there's a bit of that spacy feeling in it, as well.

This is our last day at Tonmeisterei, Oldenburg and it's going to be a short day. When we finish the harmonium, we'll do a quick rough mix and then we'll leave to celebrate New Year's Eve with our friends at home. Being in the studio is a bit like being on tour. Once it's over, you're happy to go home and once you're home, you want to go back so badly.

This doesn't mean that our record is actually finished now. We will continue adding details to the sound in Robin's smaller studio in Münster. We plan to invite some friends of ours to include their instruments, whereever it fits in.

To all our sisters and brothers, have a beautiful New Year! "May nothing but happiness come through your door", as Mogwai called one of their most beautiful songs in 1999. Speaking for us, we can't wait for 2011 to come. There are so many exciting things to happen: Our new record and shows, shows, shows, ...

See you all!

"Oh no, not Finland!!"

2010-12-31T13:40:00.000+01:00

Yesss, thanks to our friend Kimmo, drummer in the superamazing hardcore-outfit ILLS, all the Finland-tourdates are confirmed. Our flights are booked, so everything's ready to go for this adventure.

Here are the dates:
27.04.2011 Finland, Helsinki @ Semifinal
28.04.2011 Finland, Turku @ Klubi
29.04.2011 Finland, Petäjävesi @ YC Feeniks
30.04.2011 Finland, Lappeenranta @ Lucky Monkeys

And as we do it in our postpostmodern age, here's the facebook-event-page. Please everyone, help us spread the word about this!

Day 5

2010-12-31T01:39:00.000+01:00

The ghost is him.

Today we recorded the vocals. Julian did a great job and put everything he had into his voice. That's why he was totally fucked, when he was finished. But since it's conserved now forever, I think it was worth it. Look at this crybaby:

Then we worked on some little details. This is Robin explaining a nice old-school synthesizer. Whatever he does - we love it!

Finally, we recorded a blues. Yep, that's what we did. And it will be on the record. Pascal played the upright bass, Julian did some Captain Beefheart-inspired singing, Robin played an acoustic guitar with a bottleneck and I drummed on a floor tom and a desk. The whole thing was recorded with three room microphones. We love the result. It's gonna be fun to see, if someone else is gonna like it, too.

Tomorrow is our last day in studio. And all there is to do is recording some additional feedbacks and some harmonium. Yes!

Good night to everyone. Pay tribute to the genius of Captain Beefheart!

Day 4

2010-12-30T02:15:00.000+01:00

It's 1.30 AM and we just called it a day. That's why I am going to keep this one short.
Deni left us this morning. He's going on a trip through Europe, so now it's only three of us left here. Here's the obligatory goodbye-picture:

After finishing the bass we've just started recording the vocals. This is where we're going to continue tomorrow morning.
Here's Pascal at work:

Finally I'd like to recommend another classy tune. Enjoy!

Celebrated Summer 2011 w/ SOUL CONTROL

2010-12-29T13:09:00.002+01:00

Here's a great announcement for next summer: From July 22nd to August 20th we're going on an extensive European tour with Soul Control (Bridge 9). It's great to be touring with such an awesome band. I remember picking up their "Involution" record and how it blew me away. It's gonna be fun to watch them play every night.
If you want to set up a show, get in touch with niclas@nodeclinebooking.com. Spread the word about this! This is gonna be a nice tour.

The Finland-dates will be announced on New Year's Eve. Watch out!

And by the way, listen to Spacemen 3, all you folks!

Day 3

2010-12-28T23:38:00.000+01:00

The further the recording sessions proceed, the more we begin to understand what is actually happening here. The guitars are done now and we'll start recording the bass tomorrow morning. When recording the guitars we tried different effects and reworked some guitar parts. Some songs got a new atmosphere now and it really did them good.

We've just listened to everything we've brought to tape so far and we find this to be our best effort so far. In a way we've finally found our own musical language to communicate in and when trying to describe these new tunes we mostly call bands that are either connected with the term "grunge" or with the term "shoegaze". So you could say it's all revolving around the year 1990 (that's when we were 3 years old).
We're also busy discussing the title for the album. There are some serious ideas, but at this point we rather keep it to ourselves.

Who's gonna keep track of all the cables and switches? It's so good to have the genius of Robin Völkert with us. He's playing an important role in the making of this record and we couldn't be grateful enough for that.

These boys know how to keep a kitchen tidy.

This picture is meant to make you curious. There's going to be one song to worship the great band My Bloody Valentine and here's Deni recording the foundation for it.

Good night everyone. If you're staying awake for no reason, then listen to these lovely tunes.

Day 2

2010-12-27T21:39:00.000+01:00

"Grander than castles, cathedrals or stars:
Electric guitars"
Prefab Sprout, 1997

Recording the drums and editing the drum tracks is like looking at skeletons. Even if the rhythm hits you there's no soul in it. So when we finished the drums today, we were happy to get over this first stage of development.
Deni found a suitable guitar sound very quickly. I guess, that's the part that is going to separate the new album from all our previous work. The new songs are not working with the big riff or the huge and brute sound. Now there are some subtle and not so subtle harmonies in our sound that were asking for an appropriate sound. So it was a natural progression to employ kind of a "grungy" sound.
However, listening to the first songs with a recorded guitar track was a satisfying experience to us. At this point, we are happy about the way things are taking shape.

After recording the lead guitars we are planning to add lots of effect guitars to our sound. That's pretty much the plan for tomorrow.

Here's Robin accusing us of sounding like Silverchair. We assure you we are not!

Day 1

2010-12-26T23:37:00.000+01:00

"Offen gesagt haben wir vor
weiterzumachen als Gescheiterte bisher
In Sachen Selbstverwirklichung
offensichtlich halten welche nicht soviel davon wie wir."
Blumfeld, 1994

It feels good to be back in our favourite studio. After making our way through all the snow we arrived in Oldenburg later than we had hoped. Therefore, we didn't expect this day to be very productive. When we came here to record "Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone" the complete first day was marked by impatience, cause all we managed to do was the drum soundcheck. However, today everything seemed different to those sessions that were also preluded by hectic songwriting and losing a bass player. Today we arrived relaxed, cracking jokes and having even more songs up our sleeves than we want to record.
But even apart from that recording goes pretty fast. We have just called it a day and only two songs are missing for the drums. Tomorrow morning we'll do these songs and then guitar is up next. The drums already sound massive even at this point of production.

Look at this lovely wall paper that has already inspired numerous bands.

We made this little campfire next to the drumset.

For the rest of the night we'll become slack as apparent in these pictures.

Let's have another chat tomorrow night.

This Sunday we'll start recording our new album

2010-12-22T20:39:00.002+01:00

We've spent the last few weeks in our rehearsal room to finish the songwriting for our new album. Now everything's ready to be recorded and this Sunday everything's finally starting to take shape. We are really excited to say the least. These new songs are really taking us a step further, so we are curious to hear what kind of band we've become meanwhile. We will keep a studio diary on this very blog to discuss newest developments, maybe post some photos or even videos, so please keep checking this page.
There's still no title for this record, although there are some ideas floating around. It will contain ten new songs in like half an hour and it will be released by Reflections Records, this is certain.

If you have some time to spare, watch this video from our anniversary-show

2010-12-07T18:05:00.000+01:00

This was filmed by Alex/FaceTheShow.com, thank you for capturing these moments.

"You swallow shit, you swallow everything they give!"

And while you're at it, we highly recommend you to watch this video from the Unbroken show in London one week earlier. This was surely one of the most intense shows we've ever witnessed. You know that was like we were playing with The Beatles or something.

It's the end of a year (there's another one coming!)

2010-11-30T09:40:00.005+01:00

2010 was (and still is) a very pleasant year for us as a band. In March we played in Greece for the first time and then went on a European tour with ILLS from Finland. In summer and autumn we played a whole bunch of single shows. But most important we spent a lot of time working on new songs. This year ends with two killer shows, so make sure you're going to be there:

04.12. Burning Ice Fest, Mönchengladbach
18.12. Pazzo Shows Fest, Hannover

We're still busy finishing the songwriting for our new album. The studio is booked for the end of December and from then on we'll just see how long it's gonna take. We are totally excited about where these new songs are taking us to. It differs a lot from everything we've done before.
The two songs from Kissing Pavement were written during the songwriting process for the album, but they were chosen to be put on that 7", so they'd be deleted from the album. They just wouldn't fit on the album.
It's not that easy to say how this is going to end up, but it's going to be a hardcore record, that's for sure. Nevertheless, there are weird references we've been throwing at each other's heads such as The Doors, Quicksand, Blumfeld, Neu! or Nirvana. There aren't many rock riffs though. The new songs seem like an exploration of the question: Can beauty exist on a hardcore record next to the anger and nihilism? I'm not sure, if we'll be able to answer this question, but then again the unsolved questions are always the most interesting ones.

Meanwhile, I'd like to recommend this fabulous tune:

MySpace keeps digging its own grave

2010-11-17T12:16:00.000+01:00

Everytime I log into our band account on myspace.com I get the impression something is even worse than the time before. Now they have launched a new version and it's just getting more awful. So once more here's our demand to follow us on Facebook rather than on MySpace, as we won't log in to that shithole that often anymore.
For urgent cases contact us through philippjwulf@googlemail.com

Please use this like-box below:

Thank you!

Reflections Records on the road

2010-11-11T00:14:00.002+01:00

Here's our first tour announcement for 2011: From March 17 till March 27 we'll be hitting the road with the REFLECTIONS RECORDS package. The line-up features NO TURNING BACK, RITUAL, DEAL WITH IT, NEW MORALITY and MIDNIGHT SOULS (on selected dates). Most dates are either already set or comfirmed but if you're interested in booking this package, please get in touch with STRONGER BOOKINGS (strongerbookings@gmail.com).

On another note, we are working really hard on the new album. I'll get back to this in another blog entry very soon.

Between the weekends

2010-10-28T20:39:00.001+02:00

Our birthday was a massive blast. Thanks to everyone who came out and made this a special evening. Special thanks go out to our friends in JUST WENT BLACK, SEED OF PAIN and LIGHTHOUSE and even more special thanks to ANCHOR who came all the way from Sweden and fuckin' Norway (true story!) only to play this show. That's what the word "dedicated" was made for, I guess. We love these dudes!

We're happy to finally be able to offer our new 7" at our shows (the limited edition was gone in the blink of an eye, thanks!). Tomorrow we're heading to the East for three shows together with REASON TO CARE and WAY DOWN. We're really excited about it. So come out, see us, say hi, pick up the new 7":

10-29 DE, Braunschweig @ Nexus
10-30 DE, Forst @ Buntes Haus
10-31 DE, Dresden @ Chemiefabrik

LOVE.

This Saturday: Our 5-Year-Anniversary-show

2010-10-21T17:19:00.002+02:00

In general we believe that birthdays are quite overrated, but this specific one is very close to our hearts. Our band is now 5 years old. We celebrate this cause with a show in our hometown Recklinghausen on this Saturday. Luckily, our new 7" has arrived at the Reflections Records headquarter today with a massive delay. The pressing plant, for some reason, sent the records to the UK. No one knows what they were supposed to do there. Anyways, they're finally here. So at the show we'll have it for the very first time and we will sell a limited edition of it with an extra cover (limited to 55 pieces). So grab one while stocks last. No reservations or orders at this point.
ANCHOR, JUST WENT BLACK, LIGHTHOUSE and SEED OF PAIN are celebrating with us. It's taking place at AKZ Recklinghausen, König-Ludwig-Straße 50. Entrance is at 18.30. First band starts at 19.15 and it's all done at 23.00. Vegan food is also available, served by the infamous Tofuclub.
Party with us!

Unbroken show this Saturday

2010-10-13T20:10:00.000+02:00

We have waited for this day for a long time now: This Saturday we will be supporting UNBROKEN on their only European show in London. UNBROKEN was one of the bands that got us into hardcore and therefore has a special significance in our musical socialisation. Needless to say, we feel privileged to be invited to play this show.

If everything works as planned, we'll be able to pick up our new 7" "Kissing Pavement" at the Reflections headquarter in Tilburg on our way to Calais, so we might be able to sell this piece of vinyl in London for the very first time.

Having played circa 250 shows in the last five years we don't get nervous before shows that easily. This show is different. So if you're there, please support us and make us feel that everything's going to be fine.

Greenest Meadows b/w Kissing Pavement

2010-09-16T11:30:00.002+02:00

Today Reflections Records has begun to take preorders for our forthcoming 7" entitled "Kissing Pavement". To save yourself a limited piece of clear vinyl, visit this link to the Reflections e-store.
We have just uploaded both A- and B-side of the single. You can listen to it either on myspace.com/ritualeurope or on soundcloud.com/ritualeurope. The first track is called "Greenest Meadows", that's really nothing but a primitive punk rock song. The second track is called "Kissing Pavement" and it includes some samples that we recorded in the sunny streets of Oldenburg, but probably it's not going to be difficult to find out that this idyllic scene is not real.
We'd appreciate you spreading the word about this and/or telling us your opinion.

This weekend we are heading to Paris for one show and then to Belgium to play at Ziggypop Fest (alongside great bands such as MIDNIGHT SOULS, RISE AND FALL and MILLIONS OF THEM). Go there, if you can. Our two new songs will be presented live for the very first time.

L-U-V,
the Ritual 4

"KISSING PAVEMENT" vinyl-single to be recorded this week

2010-07-05T13:21:00.000+02:00

With this post we are happy to reveal the title of our upcoming 7"-single: It's gonna be called "KISSING PAVEMENT" after one of the tracks that we're just about to record. We're going to hit our favourite studio "Tonmeisterei" in Oldenburg this Thursday but with a different producer this time: Robin (of The Now-Denial- & Dean Dirg-fame). We're really excited about the outcome. This 7" is to be released in early August (we hope). We'll keep you posted about this. A new track will be online very soon!

„… geistern wir durch neue Formen“

2010-06-04T16:45:00.002+02:00

As you might know we are currently writing songs for another full length record. From the beginning it was self-evident to us to make this new record a document of our development as a band and as persons. At the same time we found that it's really hard to leave behind the musical structures that hardcore has taught us since we're playing together. We already wrote some new tunes that really satisfy us, but getting the album together is still gonna take us some time.
At this point our label Reflections Records asked us to put out a 7" to shorten the wait for the new LP. So with this blog entry I am happy to announce the release of a new 7" this summer. We will record two new songs that are supposed to connect the music from our latest record with the new one. These songs won't appear on the upcoming LP.
We're gonna hit the studio in the beginning of July and hope to have the 7" released in early August just in time for our festival appearances. More news on the title and the artwork of the 7" very soon.

This is where you meet us this summer:

25.06.2010 Germany, Montabaur @ Mach1-Festival w/ SICK OF IT ALL, WIZO, SOULFLY, DEATH BY STEREO, ...
26.06.2010 Germany, Durmersheim @ New Noise Festival w/ NO TURNING BACK, GLASSES, CELESTE, ...
24.07.2010 Germany, Köln @ Essigfabrik w/ CARPATHIAN, MILES AWAY, CRUEL HAND, RUINER, ...
31.07.2010 Belgium, Mol @ Break Out Fest w/ RUINER, CARPATHIAN, NO TURNING BACK, AYS, ...
05.08.2010 Germany, Kiel @ Schaubude w/ ADORNO
06.08.2010 Denmark, Fredericia @ Fredericia Hardcore Festival w/ RUINER, CARPATHIAN, KICKBACK, BITTER END, ...
07.08.2010 Germany, Hannover @ The Rise Fest w/ RUINER, CARPATHIAN, JUST WENT BLACK, GOLDUST, ...
18.09.2010 Belgium, Merksplas @ Ziggypop Fest w/ RISE AND FALL, MIDNIGHT SOULS, MILLIONS OF THEM, ...

Love,
RITUAL

Athens aftermath / Tour prelude

2010-03-23T19:28:00.000+01:00

We just came back from a superamazing weekend in Athens. On Friday we played a show there, which was really good. A lot of people, good bands, good energy, good feedback. Thanks to everyone who came. That was a nice welcome!
The rest of the weekend was all about great hangouts and sightseeing. Athens is an impressive city. You should go there, if you've never been there and if you get the chance. We hung out with the guys from RIVALS, who organised the show and also played there. On Saturday Julian recorded some guest vocals for them. The result can be listened to on their myspace.

Anyways, our next tour kicks off this Friday with the Belgium shows. We are really excited about it all. You should definitely check out our tour-buddies ILLS, which is a real good band. Here are the tourdates. Hopefully see you at one of these shows, beloved reader.

26.03.2010 Belgium, Turnhout @ JC Schorvoort
27.03.2010 Belgium, Mechelen @ JC Metteko
28.03.2010 France, Dunkerque @ La Kalvaire
29.03.2010 France, Paris @ Le Klub
30.03.2010 France, Bordeaux @ Heretic Club
31.03.2010 France, Montpellier @ Mojomatic
01.04.2010 Italy, Milano @ SGA
02.04.2010 Switzerland, Schaffhausen @ Fasskeller
03.04.2010 Austria, Salzburg @ Denkmal
04.04.2010 Austria, Wien @ Escape
05.04.2010 Germany, München @ Kafe Kult
06.04.2010 Czech Republic, Prague @ Klub 007
07.04.2010 Germany, Siegen @ Vortex
08.04.2010 Germany, Göttingen @ Juzi
09.04.2010 Germany, Berlin @ Subversiv
10.04.2010 Germany, Bremen @ G18

Wolves 7" has just reached its fourth press

2010-03-12T18:29:00.003+01:00

Blacktop Records and Team Ritual both are happy to announce that our "Wolves" 7" EP, first released in December 2006, has just reached its fourth press. This little piece of vinyl has been a very nice companion, so we are glad that this record will continue to be available to anyone who's interested in it. This new edition is pressed on clear vinyl.

To celebrate this, Blacktop Records offers a very special deal: An exclusive shirt + the 7" + a free Blacktop CD altogether for only 12 Euros (incl. shipping within Germany), while stocks last. Check if your size is still available: http://blacktoprecords.de/ritual

We're supporting UNBROKEN in London

2010-03-07T17:02:00.004+01:00

Dear friends,

we're more than happy to announce that we'll be supporting UNBROKEN on their single European show on October 16th. As you might be able to imagine, this means the world to us. UNBROKEN is one of those bands that got us into hardcore and that induced us to start a band ourselves. So this is totally mind-blowing to us!
We'd be happy to see some familiar faces there. Some tickets are still available.

Take care,
Team R.

Two shows in Greece

2010-01-20T17:01:00.001+01:00

Although we had decided not to play any shows before our tour starting at the end of March, this was an offer we couldn't refuse: We'll be going to Greece for two shows on March 19th and 20th. The shows will happen in Athens and Patra. We are damn excited!

This is blowing my mind...

2010-01-16T16:47:00.003+01:00

There's a kid called Alex who did guitar covers of two of our songs. Check this out, it totally knocked my socks off. I mean: There's someone playing OUR songs on youtube. Uh!

Thanks, Alex. Good job!

What's going to happen in 2010?

2010-01-11T23:37:00.009+01:00

Here's our first blog update in 2010 to let you know what we've got planned for this year so far.

First and foremost, of course, we've got a tour coming up together with our friends in ILLS from Finland. I might have told you this before, but if you haven't checked them out, we highly recommend you to do this right away. This is their myspace and their songs on there are nothing but great and I'm excited to experience them live!
The organization of this tour has once again been done by ourselves and we were extremely happy about the quick progress it made. Here are the tourdates:

26.03.2010 Belgium, Turnhout @ JC Schorvoort
27.03.2010 Belgium, Mechelen @ JC Metteko
28.03.2010 France, Dunkerque @ La Kalvaire
29.03.2010 France, Paris @ Le Klub
30.03.2010 France, Bordeaux @ Heretic Club
31.03.2010 France, Montpellier @ Mojomatic
01.04.2010 Italy, Milano @ SGA
02.04.2010 Switzerland, Schaffhausen @ Fasskeller
03.04.2010 Austria, Salzburg @ Denkmal
04.04.2010 Austria, Wien @ Escape
05.04.2010 Germany, München @ Kafe Kult
06.04.2010 Czech Republic, Prague @ Klub 007
07.04.2010 Germany, Siegen @ Vortex
08.04.2010 Germany, Göttingen @ Juzi
09.04.2010 Germany, Berlin @ Subversiv
10.04.2010 Germany, Bremen @ G18

You can also find these shows on Last.FM. Needless to say, we'd be happy to meet you at one of these shows.

This will also be the last tour in support of our latest output "Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone", which leads me straight to the next topic I wanted to talk about: We've just started working on new material. At this point there's not much I can tell about it, except for the fact that this is definitely meant to become an album, not a 7" or any other smaller format. We don't have a working title or anything, but working on the new songs and the concept of the album totally captures our minds at the moment - and probably will for the coming months as well.

As for the summer, nothing is set in stone. We'll keep you up-to-date. Thank you for reading.

Herzlichst,
Team Ritual 2010

New interview online

2009-11-22T17:04:00.002+01:00

Our friend Samuel (of Seed of Pain fame) did an interview with our drummer Philipp for his music related blogspot. Read it here: dustwillneversettle.blogspot.com

Live @ Angry Youth Fest, Essen

2009-11-18T01:09:00.002+01:00

Thank you, Alex, for posting this!

European Tour 2010 w/ ILLS

2009-11-17T14:34:00.006+01:00

We're happy to announce another European tour in spring 2010. This time we'll hit the road with our Finnish friends ILLS. Two and a half years back we toured Finland with their old band SATURA LANX, so now we can't wait to spend some more good time with these lovely lads. This will also be the last tour in support of our latest output "Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone". We're doing the organisation of this tour on our own, this means we really depend on your help. If you'd like to have us in your city, drop me a line: philippjwulf@googlemail.com.

Further information:

RITUAL (GER / Reflections Records)
http://myspace.com/ritualeurope
http://ritualeurope.blogspot.com
http://reflectionsrecords.com

ILLS (FIN / Let It Ride Records)
http://illshardcore.com
http://myspace.com/illshardcore

Period: March 26th to April 10th

Number of persons: 9
Food: vegan!

Last shows for 2009

2009-10-02T14:33:00.008+02:00

10.10.2009 Untergrund Club, Bochum, DE
w/ ZERO MENTALITY, LAST MILE

06.11.2009 Katakombe, Aschaffenburg, DE
w/ LIGHTHOUSE, SECOND TRY, ...

07.11.2009 Angry Youth Fest, Essen, DE
w/ RISE AND FALL, SEED OF PAIN, LIGHTHOUSE, AYS, IRON AGE

13.11.2009 Exil, Neustadt a. d. Orla, DE
w/ ALL FOR NOTHING, SCREWED UP, CHANCE TO RISE

14.11.2009 Ak44, Gießen, DE
w/ DENY EVERYTHING, ANNOTATION, TACKLEBERRY, ...

05.12.2009 Lorenz Süd, Münster, DE
w/ THE NOW-DENIAL, GOLDUST, ALPINIST, ...

06.12.2009 ACU, Utrecht, NL
w/ LORDS, THE HUNGER, CORNERED

Back home

2009-08-18T17:09:00.003+02:00

We just came back from our 24-days tour with CARPATHIAN from Australia and our longtime friends in ANCHOR (mainland shows) and BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL (UK shows). Needless to say, these were good times. With this entry, we would like to thank everyone who came out to see us and all the promoters who put a lot effort in setting up the shows. It's still not self-evident to us to experience so much hospitality, gentleness and courtesy.

Thanks to the great bands we played with: CARPATHIAN, ANCHOR, BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL, AYS, GOLDUST, PATSY O'HARA, HANG THE BASTARD, SINK OR SWIM, MAROON, ALMOST HOME, WAY DOWN.

And by the way, listen to PRESS GANG:

We'll be using Twitter while on tour

2009-07-23T19:15:00.005+02:00

Visit: twitter.com/team_ritual

Tourtagebuch (Fuze #17)

2009-07-23T00:45:00.001+02:00

Summer Tour 2009

2009-07-15T17:29:00.006+02:00

Dear Italy

2009-07-01T20:07:00.005+02:00

On Saturday we're playing Feel Their Pain Fest in La Spezia. The promoters Riccardo and Andrea asked us to play one specific coversong... So this will be a rare occasion to hear this one live.

You won't be my guiding light in this world gone mad. I don't need any fairy tales to lean on. You manipulate the mind that still has to learn, replace thoughts with bullshit. Deception burns. You present yourself as caring but I can see right through. Slavery and mind control is all you quest for. I won't fall. You won't be my guiding light in this world gone mad. I don't need any fairy tales to lean on. You manipulate the mind that still has to learn, replace their thoughts with bullshit. Deception burns. I won't fall. I won't fall into your group in need of something to hold, I've got my mind and its thoughts are only mine. I need no religion to prove I exist, only room for my mind to learn what's right. Not no factitious male being, not no sexist book of lies. Not no factitious male being, not no sexist book of lies. I never needed a crutch to make me strong or to hold on to my own beliefs. And I'd never turn to suck a fucking lie, I'd never be that weak. Never. I won't fall.

May/June 2009 = Regeneration

2009-05-26T19:47:00.007+02:00

It seems I'm beginning to neglect this blog. So what's going on with us? May and June are two lazy months it seems. Well, not really since everyone has to deal with his studies or work and since we are using this time for some other musical activities. Here's what's coming next:

The beginning of July will see us doing a short trip through Europe with our friends in LIGHTHOUSE from Augsburg. If you're not familiar with these lads, check them out at myspace.com/lighthousepunk. We'll be playing Prague together with PARKWAY DRIVE, then we're in Graz to play with KID POETRY and REWRITTEN and then we're in La Spezia, Italy to play at Feel Their Pain Fest. We are very happy to be able to support this animal rights benefit festival, since this is a matter that all of us attach a great importance to. Apart from that, there are a lot of other cool bands playing there, in particular GRAF ORLOCK and GHOSTLIMB.

At the end of July our tour with CARPATHIAN and ANCHOR kicks off.
Here are all the dates:

02.07.09 Czech Republic, Prague @ Futurum †
03.07.09 Austria, Graz @ Café Prost †
04.07.09 Italy, La Spezia @ Feel Their Pain Fest †
05.07.09 Germany, Wangen @ Juze Tonne †
24.07.09 Belgium, Maasmechelen @ Moshvalley Fest ♥
25.07.09 Germany, Köln @ Allschools Birthday Bash ♥
26.07.09 Netherlands, Arnhein @ The Stage ♥
27.07.09 France, Toulouse @ Le Saint des Seins ♥
28.07.09 Italy, Bologna @ Lazzaretto ♥
29.07.09 Italy, Lucinico (Gorizia) @ Pieffe Factory ♥
30.07.09 Austria, Salzburg @ Rockhouse Bar ♥
31.07.09 Germany, Braunschweig @ B58 ♥
01.08.09 Sweden, Stockholm @ Antifest ♥
02.08.09 Germany, Bielefeld @ AJZ ♥
03.08.09 Germany, Gotha @ The Londoner ♥
04.08.09 Germany, Berlin @ Cassiopeia ♥
05.08.09 Germany, Sulzbach-Rosenberg @ Juz Hängematte ♥
06.08.09 Germany, Wiesbaden @ Schlachthof ♥
07.08.09 Belgium, Knokke-Heist @ Sunrock ♥
08.08.09 Germany, Leisnig @ Sucks'n'Summer ♥
09.08.09 Germany, Kassel @ K19 ♥
10.08.09 UK, Southampton @ Hamptons *
11.08.09 UK, Birmingham @ The Swinging Sporran *
12.08.09 UK, Leeds @ Joseph's Well *
13.08.09 UK, Glasgow @ Ivory Blacks *
14.08.09 UK, Reading @ Face Bar *
15.08.09 UK, Peterborough @ The Park *
16.08.09 UK, London @ Underworld *

† w/ LIGHTHOUSE
♥ w/ CARPATHIAN & ANCHOR
* only CARPATHIAN

After this tour we will slow down a bit. An Ireland trip is planned for some time in autumn and a few weekend shows, as well. But most booking requests will not be accepted, because we slowly want to start writing new songs then. But now is not the time to think about those things.

Have a good time and take care of yourself.

Post-tour depression falls off.

2009-05-10T23:02:00.003+02:00

Tour was amazing. We are doing fine.

This weekend we will play at the Rockfest in Schaffen, Belgium and then the weekend after that we play in Jena, Germany. Bang your heads!

European Tour 2009 pt. I

2009-03-09T13:36:00.004+01:00

Are we gonna meet?

27.03. Germany, Recklinghausen @ AKZ – Record-Release-Party!
28.03. Denmark, Fredericia @ Ungdommens Hus
29.03. Germany, Neubrandenburg @ AJZ
30.03. Germany, Berlin @ Cassiopeia
31.03. Germany, Leipzig @ Schuppen
01.04. Austria, Wien @ Arena
02.04. Germany, Berchtesgaden @ Kuckucksnest
03.04. Italy, Vicenza @ Sabotage Bar
04.04. Austria, Höchst @ Juz Chillout
05.04. Switzerland, Luzern @ Gewerbehalle
06.04. Germany, Mannheim @ Juz
07.04. Belgium, Kortrijk @ JH De Slekke
08.04. UK, Norwich @ The Marquee
09.04. UK, Leeds @ Joseph's Well
10.04. UK, Birmingham @ Eddie's Rock Club
11.04. UK, Chatham @ RAFA
12.04. Germany, Ibbenbüren @ Scheune

Can't wait to go!

Record-Release-Party!

2009-02-14T14:03:00.004+01:00

All right, our record-release-party is getting closer and closer. Time to write some words on that. To us, this is a very special show! For longer than two years we toured through Europe only with our Wolves 7". On March 27th we will finally have our full length album and play our new songs for the very first time. Needless to say, we are excited about the reactions on our new songs.
Now that I am living with our new record for quite a while, I guess I can say I am truly happy with it and I think we produced that specific record that we wanted to produce. Of course, this doesn't mean we couldn't have done any better, but I guess imperfections have always been a part of this band.
For those who collect vinyl we will have a record-release-show-edition of our new LP with silver spray-paint on the cover limited to – well, I don't know, yet. I've also found a box with a handful of our Precious Times LP. So for those who don't own this historical document of Ritual in early 2006, be quick and get this record on March 27th for only 5 Euros. And if that wasn't enough, I've found even less LPs of the sampler Hardcore Breakout BRD, which contains a previously unreleased remastered version of our smash-hit Saints. We will sell these last pieces for 5 Euros, as well.
Right after the release-show we'll be touring through Europe with our new album. This is also the first tour with our new line-up. Can't wait for that. Maybe I'll post some tour impressions on this blog.

See you soon.

Preorders are up now!

2009-01-30T12:55:00.007+01:00

You can preorder our new record on both formats gatefold-LP and digipak-CD at the Reflections e-store. Be aware that this is a preorder. It will ship in the first week of March, so you'll be the first to hold the record in your hands.

Preorder BENEATH AGING FLESH AND BONE gatefold LP on limited coloured vinyl – click here!
Preorder BENEATH AGING FLESH AND BONE as a deluxe digipack CD – click here!

Two new songs online

2009-01-28T15:48:00.003+01:00

We've just uploaded two new songs from our forthcoming full length record entitled "Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone": "Somewhere in the Rain" and "The City Lies in Quiet Sleep". Go and listen to these songs on our myspace-page:

myspace.com/ritualeurope

Preorders start tomorrow! We'll keep you updated.

New band member

2009-01-12T13:55:00.009+01:00

For personal reasons we are parting ways with our bass player Kevin Scharf, a longtime friend and founding member of Ritual. We want to thank him for the incredibly good times we shared. We sincerely hope to remain friends and wish him all the best for his future from the bottom of our hearts.

Pascal Wagner, who has played with us since October 2008 as a fill-in bass player, is now a fulltime member of Ritual. We are friends with him since forever and have already had some other musical projects with him, so it was just a logical step to make him a member of this band. He's not only a very talented musician, but also a lovely person with an appropriate attitude. Meet him & love him!

2009 will be a very busy year for Ritual. I heard someone say that this will be the best year in our lives (I guess that someone was me). We have a new record and some tours coming up. No doubt, we are maximum siked. And most important: Ritual is still based on the deepest of friendships.

Ritual 2009

Julian, Deni, Pascal & Philipp.

The current state of things

2009-01-04T23:06:00.007+01:00

We've just been added to the Reflections Records homepage, including the cover of our new record and the tracklist. From now on our upcoming shows will also be posted there. Take a look at it: reflectionsrecords.com

Two new songs will be posted on our myspace in the first week of February. At the very same time preorders will start at the Reflections online shop: shop.reflectionsrecords.com

Tourdates of our tour in March/April will be posted in the coming days. We're waiting for the last confirmations of the UK shows and then we're ready to go!

The last shows before the tour are these:
01/09 - Oschersleben, DE @ Alge
01/10 - Lichtenstein, DE @ JZ Riot
01/17 - Wunstorf, DE @ Empty Vision Farewell-Show

Recognize: Our smash hits "Where the Snakes Hide" and "Take Heart, Stay Punk" will be played for the very last times on these shows. Sing along.

Upcoming Shows

2008-11-02T01:42:00.009+01:00

These are the last shows before the release of our new record in March 2009. We would appreciate you coming around.

11/07 - Neuss, DE @ Kontakt Erfttal
11/08 - Marburg, DE @ Kfz Marburg
11/14 - Aschaffenburg, DE @ Katakombe
11/15 - Lommel, BE @ JOC De Lommert
11/28 - Wunstorf, DE @ Wohnwelt
12/05 - Essen, DE @ Juz Papestr.
12/06 - Ibbenbüren, DE @ Scheune
12/07 - Hamburg, DE @ Rote Flora
01/09 - Oschersleben, DE @ Alge
01/10 - Lichtenstein, DE @ JZ Riot
01/17 - Wunstorf, DE @ Empty Vision Farewell-Show

A pictorial studio diary

2008-10-14T11:02:00.004+02:00

Here are some pictures from our recording sessions in the Tonmeisterei, Oldenburg. We really had a great time - it's too bad pictures don't make noises.

We actually recorded in a small mountain village in Austria.

Julian is getting impatient.

Mastermind Role.

Too many knobs.

That Drive Like Jehu Shirt won't make you a good drummer.

The guitar sounds quite all right.

Some additional percussion for the intro - the biggest cymbal in the world.

We signed to Reflections Records

2008-10-10T20:08:00.006+02:00

We're happy to announce that our new full length record "Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone" will be released by Reflections Records in March 2009 on both formats CD and LP. These days we're in the studio recording that record and we're having a good time.

Read the statement from Reflections Records here.

Asleep at the wheel

2008-09-24T20:01:00.004+02:00

We had a car accident last weekend. We played in Weißwasser near the Polish border on the other side of Germany and had to bring back our rented van in time, so we had to drive home over night. At 6 in the morning the driver fell asleep and we hit the guardrail. Fortunately no one of us got hurt, except for our fill-in bassplayer Michael who passed out for a moment. Meanwhile he is fine again.
Actually we didn’t want to talk about this incident on the internet, because we wanted to avoid internet gossip and because we think it is really not that bad, as we’re all in the best of health. But the problem is the driver wasn’t insured, so we’re a total wreck, financially.

Although this is just a drop in the bucket, we would appreciate any kind of support such as buying shirts for 2 Euros more than usual. So if you’d like to get some stuff in order to support us, please get in touch: viva_hate@web.de

Somewhere in the Rain

2008-09-14T23:43:00.002+02:00

These days we are busy finishing the songwriting process for our new LP and in less than a month we are hitting the studio again. Almost two years ago we recorded the Wolves 7"; needless to say, we are totally excited about it all. And I guess I can say I am barely thinking about anything else but the recordings, unless I'm listening to Sonic Youth.

The record will be called Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone and up to this point I think the title sums up the content of the record quite well. The album is supposed to contain 10 songs, four of which are already recorded as demos in a small studio (The Ghost Is You, Guilt Will Get You Anyway, Somewhere in the Rain and Clouds), but we promised ourselves to never ever release these versions of the songs. And to those who are curious about how the record is going to sound - I can only tell from my own impressions, which may not be correct - I think this is the darkest we have ever been. Plus, we are coming closer to becoming a rock band.

As many people keep asking: It is not decided yet which label is going to release the CD/LP. We'll let you know as soon as these things are settled.

Next weekend we have two Germany shows coming up:
September 19th, Jugendzentrum Ennigerloh
September 20th, AJZ Garage, Weißwasser
If you're living somewhere near, be there please.

Yours,
Philipp & Ritual

Yes, we finally made it on here, too.

2008-09-10T21:18:00.001+02:00

You see, we are pretty zeitgeisty (I have to laugh about the fact that is word actually exists): We have just started our own blog. I thought this was a good idea to publish some news about the band, along with some tour diaries or whatever is striking us. We are sending out so many myspace-bulletins, but I always keep thinking that probably they are on everyone's page 3 or whereever just 15 minutes after posting. So these articles are going to last. If you wish to get in email-contact with us write to viva_hate@web.de. And by the way, this blog is maintained by me, Philipp, drummer. Thank you for your interest in our band.

Sincerely,
RITUAL