Review: “Hope In Hatred” by Rituals

“The record has a collaborative mix of themes and messages running throughout. However one main recurring theme was the general complexity of creation. The record was recorded during personal hardships, illnesses and health scares, equipment nightmares and overall musical issues. The main body of music was written by our guitarist Ewan Lee who says the EP was written August 2024 with the intent of diversifying our sound, but maintaining the heaviness and groove of our previous work, to create something that sounded unique to us.” ~ Rituals

Back in 2018 Northern Metalcore hellraisers Rituals released their debut single “Phantom Itch” and they haven’t looked back since. Hitting the road with everyone from Wage War to Skindred and Cane Hill they’ve made a name for themselves with a bombastic high energy live show while at the same time issuing warning threats from the studio. 2021 saw them unleash their debut EP “Awake” followed by “Show Me The Signs” in 2022 and “I Found Myself In The Dark” in 2023. Each one of those has seen them sharpen their collective blades, refining and redefining their sound all along the way. The culmination of those years spent at the grindstone lead to last years “Broke Spirit” eclipsing their previously released material statistically with a combined 84k of streams from YouTube and Spotify. So where do vocalist Lewis MacRae, guitarist Ewan Lee, drummer Matt Dix and bassist Dom James want to go in 2025? Produced and mixed by George Collings (Soul Harvest) at In Heart Studios, mastered by Grant Berry (Boston Manor, Ithaca, Static Dress) at Fader Mastering and with artwork by Daniel Owen (Neckbreakker, Cryptic Shift, Black Atlas) at Nemesis Design, the answer lies in the cryptic writings of “Hope In Hatred“…

“Breathless is a unique song for us as it does not feature our typical anthemic chorus. Instead it is based around a rhythmic vocal hook. It is a straight up riff fest, I was listening to a lot of Slipknot and Machine Head around this time and I can hear that listening back to it” ~ Rituals

The Slipknot influence is clearly felt on “Breathless” with the way the percussion bursts and pops in the mix as Rituals come out swinging with riffs that offer a satisfying crunch while putting plenty of bounce in the mosh pit. Staccato riff breaks behind the chorus slap hard before underpinning a surprisingly vibrant solo from Lee, the rhythm section inflicting plenty of damage to accompany MacRae’s vicious vocal tirade. A fine way to pay tribute to the fallen Joey Jordison, Paul Gray and the rest of the nine, the track has an instant appeal in familiarity and will no doubt earn them a few more fans in the process. Title track “Hope In Hatred” features Tom Prendergast of Bury Tomorrow fame and floats on DJent fueled Progressive Metalcore wings. Bright leads and buried programming offering break beats to underpin the clean vocal moments from Prendergast, help to make this one more of an anthemic beast. The contrast between those harsh moments from MacRae and the lush cleans from Prendergast is perfectly balanced as they cut against the blood and thunder of the rhythmic dynamics and in all honesty you may not find as well crafted a title track this year without some serious looking.

Flavours of “Alien” era Northlane rear their ugly head in “Pray For Me“, a cut laced with programming and weighty grooves that mean you get a sing-a-long anthem that leads into a call to the mosh pit all wrapped into one. It feels a little bit more experimental than the earlier pairing stylistically but is carried off in sublime style, especially in the clean vocal department. Nu-Metal introspection boils over in the chorus, the breakdown before the final chorus one that will leave you crying out for more. Violent chugs and programming provide the backbone “Broken Spirit“, a heavy hitting first verse making way for a bold, anthem clean chorus before falling back into the heavier grooves. Vocal layering has been put to great use so that the harsh unclean parts can underpin the clean ones and it has to be said this tune kicks the door in like the Police during a dawn raid on your local dealer. “Deathwish” rounds of the collection in style, the band capturing their live energy like lightening in a bottle. By this point you can feel that the band are having fun with the tracks all having a verve and swagger to them as the confidence the musicians have in what they’re writing shines through. A scorcher of a solo is followed by the solid thump of a breakdown and if this band aren’t signing a major label deal and touring Europe by this time next year then there is absolutely no justice in this world [8.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Breathless
2. Hope In Hatred (ft. Tom Prendergast of Bury Tomorrow)
3. Pray For Me
4. Broken Spirit
5. Deathwish

“Hope In Hatred” by Rituals is out 7th November 2025