BLOOD CEREMONY: Lord of Misrule (2016)

  Blood Ceremony was formed in Toronto in 2006 starting their career as an occult  Metal band. Thankfully that didn’t last long, and after their first 2 albums they changed their style into a more 70’s influenced Heavy Rock.

  In 2013 they released the very good album ‘The Eldrich Dark’ and in 2016 ‘The Lord of Misrule’ came out.

In The Lord of Misrule the band seems to be in an excellent form, with the band’s composing and performing skills being at a high level. As for their singer Alia O’Brien, she sounds better than ever.

The album includes 9 songs and has a total running time of almost 45 minutes and as far as I know it is available in CD and vinyl version.

  The album opens with The Devil’s Window which is the longest and heaviest track here. In my opinion it brings to mind the sound that the band had in The Eldritch Dark. And I’m writing this, because although the main style remains the same, I think that in the Lord of Misrule the sound of the band is “lighter” and more melodic. (Always in my opinion).

The Devil’s Window is followed by Loreley that has a beautiful melody and is one of the album’s finest moments.

The Rogues’ Hat begins with a heavy Sabbath-influenced guitar riff, and it sounds like it belongs in the 70’s.

Both The Lord of Misrule and Half Moon Street are upbeat with catchy melodies and nice guitar work, but I like Half Moon Street a bit more I must say.

The Weird of Finistere is the first slow song of the album and it is a pleasant change with its mellow and “dark” melodies.

Flower Phantoms is kind of a surprise, because it sounds like it doesn’t belong here. A kind of “funky” song which I don’t care for, and in my opinion, it doesn’t add anything to the album.

Old Fires is another heavy song, with a “killer” guitar riff, supported by the sound of the organ in the background.

Things Present, Things Past is the second cool and melodic song of the album, with the flute being in the “first line”. The band kept this nice acoustic song as the last one, which is a very nice choice.

  Concluding this, I should say that the Lord of Misrule is a very beautiful and well structured album, which I enjoy listening to a lot! One of the best albums of 2016 so far without a doubt!

                        My Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.