Ric first picked up an axe in 2004, and by 2006 developed his skills on bass, learning the finer points of Extreme Metal vocals by 2010, all inspired by his vast collection of mentors, such as Dissection, Death, Behemoth, Morbid Angel, Kreator, Wintersun, Children Of Bodom, Immortal, Skeletonwitch, Absu, Opeth, and Watain.

“So far, the songwriting process for every song so far has been starting out with a riff, or a group of riffs on the guitar. From there I’ll flesh out the song structure based on the guitar riffs and once that is done, I’ll fill in the rest of the foundation with drums and bass. Once I have that, I’ll work on the vocal patterns and guitar solos. I overcome creative blocks by focusing my mind on something else. That usually ends up being learning new pieces of music, new techniques, reading books, or even listening to music that I’m unfamiliar with”.

Overflowing with a multifaceted compendium of musicianship, the entire album would lie throbbing and bursting at the seams in anyone’s hand, laced with and impressive collection of mind-blowing riffs and solos that take you on a rollercoaster ride of rhythm, dynamics and thunderous drums, overseen by some very tormenting vocal lines, complex patterns and syncopation, all performed at breakneck speed.

The opening track, Somnium, sets this album off perfectly, preparing us for what lies within, with a beautiful overture of classical guitar almost lulling us into a false sense of security, before opening the gates of hell and setting you off on the ride of your life and invigorating your mortal soul.

Throughout, you will find this is an album that keeps giving the more it’s played, as it goads you further into its clutches.

You can almost feel the beast take a breath as the pace changes and the solos claim their dominance, but only for a moment, as you feel it’s might ready itself to unleash its maelstrom of terror once more.

The mood is calmed every once in a while by classical renditions, as if to give the listener hope through a chink of light, before slam dunking them to the ground once more leaving any avid fan lying twitching on the floor, from sofa to stage, pulling you deeper into its chasm of despair.

Bringing in Dylan Gowan on drum duties is a masterstroke, as he not only drives each track to oblivion with a speed and accuracy enough to split the atom, but sets Ric’s project and vision on fire.
Hopefully when this is all over, and the world returns to some sort of normality, we will see more of Dylan as Ric expands this project further into full band status, ready to explode to the masses and even the world.

Star Rating – 10/10

Star Suggestion –

If ever there were four tracks to tempt the listener into buying this album they would be –
“Somnium Lucidus”, “Triumphant Return”, “Subconscious Depths” and of course “Malice Divine”.

Album release – February 19th, 2021.

In Time now available on the links below.