4 years will do a lot to a person. Everything about someone’s life can change in the blink of an eye, let alone in an extended amount of time that passes. When it comes to hiatus driven by way of five people’s personal lives, that can mean school, life, death, marriage, divorce, kids, stress, and a pretty hefty change in world perspective. This can have a serious change in approach when it comes to a personal message. Deep-rooted in the need to share this life, Scatterbox has returned to the running with their most well-rounded and most in-touch release to date.
This record was the result of over a year of writing, followed by another year and a half of recording at three different locations, all of which were located in their hometown. Being free of a strict budget and even stricter recording studio time constraint is a first for the band, and it clearly shows in the output of this record. Producer Nicholas Jarvelin, completely dismantling his Seattle-located recording studio and bringing it to Idaho certainly made for the band to get into their element. It served to produce something that speaks a maturity and aggressiveness that is not found on previous records, and quite possibly the most aggressive record they have released in their 13 year history.
As a band ages and progresses, the message usually tapers off, goes bland, and the music becomes even more so, and a band gets….calmer. With “Ritual”, this is definitely not the case. Tune in and see the rare instance on how this band became more aggressive, progressive, focused and refined…all done with tact and in the most constructive way possible.