Trepaneringsritualen — Ritualer, Blot & Botgoring

Infinite Fog Productions presents Ritualer, Blot & Botgöring by Trepaneringsritualen. Released in the waning days of 2014, this full-length CD is a reissue of Trepaneringsritualen’s (or T x R x P x for short) first album. Originally released in 2008 as a cassette on Harsh Head Rituals imprint and later on vinyl, this particular reissue gets the fully remastered treatment along with two bonus tracks not found on the first go around. For those unfamiliar, T x R x Px is the moniker of Thomas Ekelund, Sweden’s dark master of ritualistic death industrial music. I was completely enthralled by his previous works Veil the World and Perfection & Permanence, which both ended up on my best of list for the respective years they were released. Needless to say, I’ve been following this artist quite intently over the last couple years, so a this album in my review stack was eagerly received.

I can only speculate that the moniker Trepaneringsritualen is some permutation of trepanning and ritual. Trepanning, of course, is the archaic procedure of drilling into a person’s skull to treat numerous health issues. A connection between Ekelund’s namesake and this medieval procedure is made more apparent in this handsomely presented digipak. The black and white cover features woodcut-esque prints featuring a pair of gentlemen getting trepanned; the guts of the digipak showing a trio of skulls with a hole drilled into them. The CD itself depicts what I can only glean is the instrument used for the operation.

Ritualer, Blot & Botgöring offers 7 tracks of blackened drone and doomy death industrial. To be honest, it took me a few spins to really get into this album. It’s not that I initially disliked it, but rather it sounded quite different than what I was expecting. Most notably missing are the vocals on this album. It was a bit of a disappointment at first, since it’s the vocals that initially drew me into T x R x P x, however after some subsequent spins I came to really appreciate this early piece of work by Ekelund.

In essence, Ritualer, Blot & Botgöring is an instrumental album. The 5 tracks that made up this album as it was originally presented, can best be described as bleak, industrial soundscapes. Dense, heavy, and atmospheric, these pieces come across as repetitively grinding machines. Cold, yet organic sounding, Ekelund manages to create a real sense of dread in these works. There’s some electronic chirps, low end pulsing, electro acoustic meanderings, and possibly even some bass guitar sounds weaving their way through these dense slabs; which makes things sound ever more gloomy.

It’s not till we reach the 2 bonus tracks that we approach the power electronics/ritualistic industrial sound I’ve come to know T x R x P x for. Slow plodding pulses, slow creeping sonic grime and vocal stylings that alternate from spoken to growling. A pair cast in the mold of his current output colliding with the experiments of old. A fitting contrast that made for an engaging listen.

In conclusion, while I was initially thrown for the lack of Ekelund’s vocals on this album, subsequent listens has really made gravitate to the damn starkness of it all. A powerful statement, without a doubt, that showcases Ekelund’s earliest endeavors as T x R x P x.