So we get an EP in about 6 weeks before it comes out and still manage to drop the review a day after release. The joys of having work, study and family to juggle around all this lovely music and web stuff! In fairness, A Ritual Spirit weren’t going to miss out on coverage after they kindly loaned us their drum kit for the entire weekend of Wildfire a couple of years ago, and giving me a t-shirt with the word “ARS” on it. I never said I wasn’t easily bribed.
EPs are a great way for a band to get their sound out there while on a budget, ensuring that the studio time and cash is spent on quality rather than trying to cram 8-10 songs in and diluting everything. This is proven with The Antidote as it oozes class from start to finish.
“Sacrifice” is a nice slow burner to get things going. Groovy and heady-noddy it lulls you in before the more abrasive call to arms of “Broken / Disappear”. Uplifting and with a revolutionary tone, it carries us nicely through to the slower, darker “Celebrity”. It’s lack of pace doesn’t make it any less enjoyable, and the 6:27 runtime suits it well. Finally, “Dead From The Waist Down” (great title) will ironically have them dancing in the aisles. It features what is probably the catchiest riff on the EP in its intro.
The Antidote is a lesson in how to record and release an EP. Short, sharp, varied and immediately making you want to loop back to track one when the final song has finished. If you’re a fan of modern day hard rock then this one comes highly recommended.
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