Ritual Howls - Virtue Falters

Ritual Howls blend elements of post-punk, industrial, and country twang into the sonic terrain of an alluring nightmare. Featuring Paul Bancell (vocals, guitar), Chris Samuels (synth, samples, drum machine), and Ben Saginaw (bass), the trio issued its 2012 self-titled debut album on the local Detroit label, Urinal Cake Records. Reissued by Felte Records in 2022 for its tenth anniversary, it marked the cacophonous journey of Ritual Howls’ atmospheric musicality. Surging with a pictorial flair, the band have captivated audiences for over a decade, cementing themselves as a leader in darkened post-punk.

The group's fifth album, Virtue Falters, sees the band build on their cinematic blend of "industrial death-jangle." Along with the blending baritone vocals, and macabre lyrics, it bursts with a cathartic swell that streamlines the evolution of their sound more than ever before. 

Flanagan explains, "I wanted to show the dark, exploratory nature of self-imposed isolation. That someone can be searching for something unknown, intangible, and seemingly infinite through their reclusion. The video ended up as a sort-of cybernetic out-of-body experience. A person being taken through digital landscapes, guided by an unseen force."

The opening track, “Dark Ceiling in Tennessee” sees Bancell’s weighty vocals dance alongside Saginaw’s bass lines. Crafting a darkened, cavernous underbelly, this introduction rips through the confines of what others might think of us. “I’m not the fool I used to be,” Bancell bellows, as Samuels’ percussion pushes his words to a lustral blossoming. “My Trash Mind” roars, as sauntering guitars and crisp drums culminate in a crescendo of insistent tenacity. While the band swims in an almost-mechanical sonic world, the universal truth of trying to escape the barriers of our own brains pushes forth a poignant and vital humanistic quality. 

Later, “Tomb Room” showcases Ritual Howls’ sonic palette, as synths gush through syncopated beats and ever-expansive, layered guitars. Promoting their ability to bring a variety of textures  into their hardened arrangements, the song points towards Ritual Howls’ prolific post-genre exploration. The trio could easily slot into an 80s-electronica movie scene, but it’s the album’s driving tenacity that cements the band fully in the future of post-punk revelry.

Virtue Falters is an album that punctuates the profound connection of three friends playing music together for over a decade. The ease of these composition offers us the evident sonic landscape the band have threaded together throughout the years. With such a solid and impressive foundation, Virtue Falters showcases a smart blend of the old and the new, putting together an unfaltering, otherworldly experience.