Ritual - The Hemulic Voluntary Band (2007)

What can one say about Ritual? They are a not very well known band from Sweden who amalgamate folk and rock with a touch of progressive. They have released very few albums, and although they have a website, they do not appear to be updating it regularly.

I think if I were to give their music a sound, I would call it "Goblin rock".

What drew me first to this album was the cover - which features some rather weird little critters playing instruments. Several songs are based on the moomin series by Tove Jansson. The cover is quirky - and right up my alley given that I love things a wee bit weird and whimsical. The booklet is a delight - from the charming cover to the interior illustrations - which include the lyrics - including one in the form of a tale (based on one of Jansson's picture books) and the whole thing is designed to look like a book.

In style, their music is very quirky and kind of "organic". The sounds are slightly disharmonious, a little higher in pitch than you regularly get, with quirky little rhythms and reels. Like the dart of insects. It is very, very, easy to imagine the band to be these relatively formless, long muzzled beings.

I cannot remember when I bought this album, but I cannot help but feel that it inspired the gnome species in my novel "A Midsummer Knight's Quest". Heh, fancy that.

Instruments listed include: clavinet, harmonium, grand piano, rhodes, irish bouzoki, hammer dulcimer, recorders, whistles, nyckelharpa - I don't even know what half of these are!

The first track is the "Hermulic Voluntary Band" with its quirky, organic rhythms and a small dose of additional chaos. Erratic beats and little trills make it feel slightly discordant.

"In the Wild" is a slightly more refined number. The vocals are a bit smoother and the music somewhat restrained, although still prone to darting off into unexpected little rhythms. It fades into some rather sweet piano and then the rather discordant guitarish instrument takes over like a darting, swarming, biting bee.

A somewhat melancholic and rather quirky ballad, we have "Late in November" - which has recorders. This is from Snufkin's perspective.  Snufkin strikes me as rather an introspective nomad, who cherishes walking in the late autumn.

The is a sense of the ominous in "The Groke" as she stomps on in in a rhythmic march, bringing the winter and death with her. Her presense is ominous, and the music portends to this, but there is also an edge there - perhaps she is not so much evil and nasty, as just misunderstood?

"Waiting By the Bridge" is a poppy, lively little number. It is about Moomintroll waiting for his friend to come and take him away on a grand adventure. It is filled with cheer and hope.

Now we have the final track - and it is so epic it is longer than the other songs put together, clocking in at a massive 28 minutes. "A Dangerous Journey" opens with a cheerful rhythm and begins the tale of a young girl called Susanna, who seeks adventure.

"Life was so humdrum and always the same."

That is, she sets down her glasses and has them stolen - and replaced with another pair - a pair that change the way she sees the world (and grows her cat into a monster-cat). Here the tone changes, taking on an ominous edge, as the cat races away into the forest. She follows, and finds a swamp filled with ominous creatures and then a barren sea shore. Where can cat be? Things turn strange as she comes upon a peculiar pair. Things turn more sinster as, nearby, a volcano erupts.Whilst the lyrics are quite ominous, the nature of the music still makes it all sound very upbeat and exciting. Rather a contrast.There is a brief bit of dramatic tension coming towards the end of the track as they are pursued by a monster. But luckily a balloon swoops down and snatches them away to a pleasant valley where they have a picnic.

Oh, and the cat comes back.

For originality and quirkiness of sound, Ritual would easily rate a 10/10. Alas, for all their charm and whimsy, the music is just ever so slightly discordent and can be irritating if played too loudly or too many times. So I'm going to have to give it a 7/10.