SAILLE — Ritu (review)

Album · 2013 · Melodic Black Metal

4/5 · 2012-12-27
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Having made perhaps more waves with their 2011 debut Irreversible Decay than most bands manage Belgian melodic/symphonic black metal act Saille return in early 2013 with their second opus, entitled Ritu. Ritu features a few line-up changes within the group as Irreversible Decay vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Vanderwal decided to leave the band, who then brought in new vocalist Dennie Grondelaers, who also took over the lyric duties for Ritu. Later, following the departure of guitarist Yves Callaert, Jonathan Vanderwal returned to Saille as a guitarist only, while Reinier Schenk passed bass duties to Didier Vancampo and become a fulltime guitarist having only filled this role on an additional basis on the debut. So although Yves Callaert is the only member of the core band from Irreversible Decay not present on both albums, the Saille line-up has seen a lot more reworking than really meets the eye, with only keyboardist and band leader Dries Gaerdelen and drummer Gert Monden filling exactly the same roles as they did before.

Saille’s take on black metal however remains as strong as ever. One of the key aspects that made Irreversible Decay special for me was that unlike the hordes of other bands in their style, Saille insisted on using real instruments rather than imitating them through a synthesiser to create their symphonic/melodic aspect. This is something which has been continued through to Ritu, so you can expect to hear instruments such as the trombone, cello, violin, euphonium, cornet, theremin and more during the course of the nine track album. Like with the debut, this gives Saille’s music an extra level of authenticity for me. You know (or should know) that when a bunch of guys go to that much trouble, which involves a host of guest musicians, that they mean business. And with their sound from Irreversible Decay intact yet with some noted evolution, especially on the production front, they also prove that Irreversible Decay wasn’t a fluke.

New vocalist Dennie Grondelaers has a style not that dissimilar to Jonathan Vanderwal, so this aspect of the Saille sound remains much the same despite the vocalist change. You will also hear parts of the album which feature some clean vocals, in very small moderation, including some female vocals during Runaljod, which also features some light use of folksy elements, such as the lead guitar melody and general atmosphere. Musically the direction of the band remains much the same but with some tweaking production wise the band has managed to produce a sound which comes across as a bit more intense, as well as being darkly sinister. The lyrical content which focuses on the death rites of ancient cultures along with the work of H.P. Lovecraft also goes some way to enhance the atmosphere of the album. There was also a slight progressive edge to some of the music from the debut, which has become a bit more pronounced on Ritu, such as during the song Sati, which was an early favourite from the album for me.

Ritu is a more than worthy follow up to the masterful debut. It retains those elements which gave Saille their sound the first time around without making the same album twice. The songs of Ritu all have identity over those from Irreversible Decay. If I’m honest Ritu doesn’t actually have quite the same impact on me as the debut did. The two albums are close in terms of quality but I think the debut has a very slight edge over Ritu which pushes it from my ‘exceptional’ rating tier up into the ‘masterpiece’ zone. Because of the closeness of both albums to my grade boundary this may seem like a bigger step down than it really is, but rest assured we’re still talking a very high quality work from what is in my mind one of the most promising young black metal bands on the planet, and I can only applaud the continued brilliance that the band displays on Ritu.

93/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/saille-ritu-t2712.html))