Ritual Aesthetic (stylized as Ritual Æsthetic) is an American industrial band founded in 2013 based in

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, United States. The band has released two studio albums: ''Decollect'' in 2014 and ''Wound Garden'' in 2018, and an as yet unnamed third album was announced in 2020.

History

Ritual Aesthetic began in 2013 as the solo project of Sean Ragan who was then drumming for

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industrial metal band Dawn Of Ashes. Ritual Aesthetic's original style consisted of genre-blending compositions similar to that of artists like

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...

. The resulting sound was a unique blend of melodic dance rhythms, harsh metal guitar, aggressive EBM styled vocals and dark experimental noise atmospheres. In early 2013, individual singles were uploaded to the band's various social media pages. Met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from online listeners, the band signed with UK industrial label Juggernaut Services and on April 18, 2014 released its subsequent first full length '' Decollect ''. The album featured brand new compositions, re-workings of original singles as well as remixes by

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artist Iszoloscope. ''Decollect'' was mixed by Los Angeles-based heavy metal producer Alex Crescioni and mastered by the German producer Sander Kapper ''Decollect'' has been praised with critical acclaim, drawing comparisons to

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and Ministry. Critics praised Ritual Aesthetic's unique and heavy musical compositions as well as praising its catchy pop structured lyrical hooks, and referred to their debut album as sounding as if it came from "the 1995 heyday of the genre". The album was ranked #14 on

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Best Industrial Albums of 2014 category, as well as #7 in its Best Alternative Electronic Albums of 2014 list. In Spring 2018, the band announced via Regen Magazine that they had signed with

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

and would be releasing 2018's follow up album ''Wound Garden'' in late July. Accompanying the press announcement was a teaser single of the song "The Analog Flesh". ''Wound Garden'' was released on July 28, 2018 with the group's debut music video premiering exclusively on Sideline Magazine, directed by videographer Vicente Cordero. On January 15, 2020, the band announced via Brutal Resonance magazine that they were aiming to release a new album in 2020, with

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as creative collaborator and producer. In a July interview, frontman Sean Ragan stated that due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the album had been delayed to Spring 2021. In January 2023, Ritual Aesthetic announced they would be playing their first live show in two years, supporting industrial black metal band Lykotonon at the Hi-Dive music venue in Denver.

Discography

*''Something To Know You By'' (2013) Single *''Decollect'' (2013) LP *''Wound Garden'' (2018) LP *''Blood of the Titans - Ritual Aesthetic Remix'' (2021) - Remix for Dawn of Ashes' EP ''Blood of the Titans (Remixes)''

Members

*Sean Ragan *Vance Valenzuela *Mack Barrow *Nicholas Klinger

References

{{Authority control American industrial metal musical groups Musical groups from Denver Musical groups established in 2013 American musical quartets Electronic music groups from Colorado 2013 establishments in Colorado Cleopatra Records artists