''The Opening Ritual'' is an EP by the British heavy metal

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Cloven Hoof A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof, or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. Members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla that possess this type of hoof include cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, goats, and sheep. The two digits ...

, and their debut release. The track in this EP, "''The Gates Of Gehenna''" was re-recorded by the same band for their self-titled first full-length studio album. There exists a bootleg split album of this EP and the band's

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

'' Fighting Back''.

History

The EP stayed in the ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

'' and ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' heavy metal charts for six weeks, peaking at number 18. Articles in ''Kerrang!'' and ''Noise'' magazines followed, with

Geoff Barton Geoff Barton (born July 1955) is a British journalist who founded the heavy metal magazine ''Kerrang!'' and was an editor of '' Sounds'' music magazine. He joined ''Sounds'' at the age of 19 after completing a journalism course at the London Co ...

tipping the band for the top in his prestigious "Breaking through in '82 feature," and playlist. Over in America, unbeknownst to the band, John Strednansky was championing the band in his ''Metal Rendezvous'' magazine, and college radio stations were airing the EP on their playlists. A worldwide buzz was growing and international stardom seemed a formality. However, bad contract advice and in-fighting put paid to a huge recording deal. The untimely death of David Hemmings, the band's manager, was another terrible blow. An independent label was the only alternative for Cloven Hoof to once again gather momentum. Undeterred, ''The Opening Ritual'' attained airplay on numerous radio stations worldwide, but it was not until

Tommy Vance Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940 – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster. He was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal, along with ...

and Geoff Barton played tracks off the EP on radio one in the UK that the Cloven ones' career really began to break into a gallop. 1983 saw Cloven Hoof touring throughout the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, earning themselves a sizeable underground

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. In the summer of that year, the band recorded a four-track session for Tommy Vance's

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and a similar session for

Beacon Radio Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire, formerly Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshir ...

for DJ Mike Davies.

Track listing

All songs written by

Lee Payne Lee John Payne (born 12 December 1966) is an English former professional footballer and currently a football agent. He played as a left-winger in both England and the Netherlands. Payne began his career with Hitchin Town, Dunstable and Luton ...

, unless indicted otherwise. # "The Gates of Gehenna" - 6:10 # "Stormrider" - 4:17 # "Back in the USA" - 4:40 # "Starship Sentinel" - 6:40

Credits

*David Potter - Vocals *Steve Rounds - Guitar *

- Bass *Kevin Pountney - Drums

References

* Cloven Hoof (band) albums 1982 EPs New Wave of British Heavy Metal EPs {{1980s-metal-album-stub