A review by Yves Dubé
This latest release is the band’s fourth, and considered their most adventuresome by those in the know. Kaipa’s frontman Patrik Lundstrom leads his bandmates through 6 very different, and for the most part very interesting, numbers.

The disc opens with the very Gentle Giantesque title track. The song offers many odd-metered time signatures punctuated with some counterpoint vocals. It sets the tone for things to come. I’ll add right here that the tracks are all based in Tove Jansson’s “Moomin” world (in case that means anything to anyone reading this…) so it does give the disc a sort of conceptual feel even though I don’t get the impression that the tracks are recounting one tale.

Track #2 is the excellent In The Wild. Although mostly dominated by acoustic piano lines, this track closes with a bang as some excellent fretwork dominates the latter part of the number.

The following track, in my honest opinion, the only true clunker on the disc. Late In November is a sappy ballad that just doesn’t do anything for me. Lundstrom has a good crooning voice, and there’s nothing technically wrong with the number, but it just doesn’t grab me in any way. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

The 4th number, The Groke creates an anticipatory mood that never really delivers in the end. It’s as if the song were just one long bridge to nowhere. Again, this is a decent effort, but not the strongest part of the disc, for sure.

We’ve cleared the weaker moments and we’re heading towards the grand finale. Before arriving at the 26-minute closing opus, we’re served up the catchiest number on the disc. Waiting By The Bridge is an infectious number, with a pop-like chorus that immediately sticks into your brain. The middle portion of the track brings us back to some of the odd time signatures first introduced in the opening number.

We’re already at the final track, although, at 26:33, it makes up half the disc. A Dangerous Journey is a number that harkens us back to the glory days of symphonic progressive rock. The track features many different sonic textures. Elements of other influences on this band, most notably Jethro Tull, are front and center. The song begins inauspiciously with acoustic guitar and Lundstrom’s very pleasant voice dominating. It slowly builds into a more ominous intensity as the story develops. The only negative thing about this song, in this reviewer’s opinion, is that it’s extremely vocal-heavy. If you’re into that sort of thing then you’ll be well served, but I’ve always preferred opuses that relied on long instrumental passages. All the vocal parts make the track plod along at a slower pace. When there are instrumental breaks however, they’re very interesting and act to bring the song to other levels in a hurry. In fact, the song gets downright heavy in moments! It would have been nice to hear more of that heaviness in other parts of the disc. This number balances out many tempos and creates many moods, which keep it moving along, until it ends as inauspiciously as it began, with a “..and the tales goes on…” feel to it.
All in all, Ritual has presented its fans with a very solid record. The musicianship is excellent, the vocals are very pleasing, and the production is impeccable. Where it loses points with me is in the slower numbers, and in the fact that it doesn’t really break any new ground. Fans of latter-day symphonic progressive will eat this one up, but fans of what is referred to as “small p” progressive probably won’t get much mileage out of this disc.

My rating for The Hemulic Voluntary Band: 8.2/10(album reviewed by Yves Dubé 09/12/2007)