Artist description Human Ritual unleashes a brutal attack on your senses, grabbing you by the throat and not letting go until you have absorbed every ounce of the intensity that lives in all seven members. The band breathes in the pain, suffering, pleasure, and joy that each member experiences and breathes out a firestorm of beautiful aggression. Combining musical influences that include Suffocation, Meshuggah, Tool, Fear Factory, and Sepultura, the band formed in 2001 and began writing the material that would eventually become The Offering. The 4-song CD is a representative sample of four percussive, thick, and brutally grooving, blasts of heavy music. Human Ritual offers the world a different kind of heaviness. Andrew and Anita Bray’s tag team battery of drum and percussion are perhaps the most unique part of this contribution. The songs crunch along to the guitar sounds of Ben Hammond and Travis Komahcheet, while Andrew and Anita leave no space unfilled with a teeth-rattling display of stick violence. Brad Oliver mixes angst-ridden screams with melodic vocal lines. The whole thing rides on a big, thick floor provided by the dueling bass guitars of Kristy Komahcheet and Matt Miller. Prepare yourself for the “brutaful” sounds of Human Ritual. Welcome to the tribe.

Music Style metal/hardcore/tribal-psycheldicore

Musical Influences Skinlab, Slayer, Sepultura, Machine Head, Fear Factory, Tool, Acid Bath, Black Sabbath, Soulfly, Native American tribal music

Similar Artists That's a hard one. We have truly strived for an original sound. But if you took all of our influences and rolled all up into one, you'd have the idea.

Artist History Human Ritual actually started out about 3 years ago with Travis(guitar) and Andrew(drums) at the core. After going through several line-up changes and even a brief hiatus, Trav and Andrew put aside all their old differences and put together a monstrosity of sight and sound. They started it back up again with Anita on percussion. Soon after we added Kristy on bass. Human Ritual went through several vocalists until finally hooking up with Brad. Then they decided to do something off the beaten path set by most metal bands by not only adding another guitarist(Ryan Ogle who departed the band in October of 2002 due to personal and musical differences),but also decided to add a second bass player, Matt. The guitarist spot left open by Ryan was soon filled by Ben to complete the strongest line up in the history of Human Ritual.

Group Members BRAD OLIVER-VOCALS TRAVIS KOMAHCHEET-GUITAR BEN HAMMOND-GUITAR KRISTY KOMAHCHEET-BASS MATT MILLER-BASS ANITA BRAY-PERCUSSION ANDREW BRAY(THE MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER MIDGET)-DRUMS

Instruments IBANEZ, ESP, WASHBURN, MESA & RANDALL GUITAR RIGS, PEAVEY AND FENDER BASS RIGS, DIGITECH AND ROALD EFFECTS, LUDWIG DRUMS, SABIAN AND ZILDJIAN CYMBALS, TIMBALES, ROTO-TOMS, JIMBE DRUM

Albums 'OFFERING'-4-SONG DEMO

Press Reviews All of the bands to this point had really killed, but Human Ritual broke things wide open. With two bass players, a drummer, percussionist, two guitarists, and lead vocalist, the band was like a breath of fresh air. They were heavy as hell, but did a beautiful job of mixing many different elements, including tribal rhythms and low-end grooves. Tom Alexios's comments about the band were similar to mine, but he also thought it was cool that Human Ritual was the only one of 16 bands that had female members. I certainly agree. It's also quite unique that the band boasts two married couples (Kristy and Travis Komahcheet on bass and guitar, respectively; and Andrew and Anita Bray on drums and percussion, respectively). Big Brad Oliver spewed throat rage, while Anita and Andrew attacked their kits relentlessly. Travis and Ryan provided cover fire with some slashing guitar work, while Kristy and Matt invaded with a double bass guitar ground assault. It was one of my favorite performances of either day and the crowd was in awe. I heard several glowing comments about the band's performance. What a terrific group of musicians.-SCOTT ALISOGLU FROM ROCKKANSAS.COM ON THE PUT UP OR SHUT UP METAL-FEST/ The next band fucking knocked me over on how incredible they are, and I still am scratching my head thinking I was looking at their fourth or fifth only performance. I'm talking about HUMAN RITUAL - big sound, BIG frontman (with ther most amazine voice, scream and stage presence), multiple percussion, Guys AND gals in the band. The suprise of the entire show, without a doubt.-FROM LIFEFROMBEYOND.COM ON THE PUT UP OR SHUT UP METAL-FEST/ After watching Human Ritual tear it up live on multiple occasions, I was pleased to see them get a demo released. Offering is a representative sample of four percussive, bass heavy, and brutally grooving, blasts of heavy music. The band once told me that their music could be described as "brutalful," and I couldn't disagree. It's heavy and brutal, but not in a death metal sort of way. The songs form a thick and wonderfully punishing display of metallic power that comes closest to the tribal grooves of Soulfly and Sepultura, although it's not a rip-off of those bands. By Scott Alisoglu RockKansas reviewer Brad Oliver's shout of "GO!" at the beginning of album-opener "Less than Human" gives the listener a brief warning to leave the room or be crushed under the weight of this rhythmic war machine. Those that don't heed the warning will soon be a pile of bone dust and hair. I usually like to review each song on an album. But after multiple listens, it became apparent that "Less than Human," "Behind the Faces," "Mansect," and "This so called Life…" are best enjoyed as a unit — a 17-minute, crushingly mind-altering experience — rather than individual selections on Hell's jukebox. Human Ritual offers the regional metal scene a different kind of heaviness. Andrew and Anita Bray's tag team battery of drum and percussion are perhaps the most unique part of this contribution. The songs crunch along to the guitar sounds of Ryan Ogle and Travis Komahcheet, while Andrew and Anita leave no space unfilled with a teeth-rattling display of stick violence. I was especially impressed with Brad Oliver's vocals. He mixes angst-ridden screams with truly melodic vocal lines. The whole thing rides on a thick, fat floor provided by the dueling bass guitars of Kristy Komahcheet and Matt Miller. In the way of constructive criticism, the guitar parts could stand to be higher in the mix, as well as Anita's percussion. A brief guitar solo or two would also please these old-school-bastard ears. But these are really minor criticisms because the sound on Offering, particularly when you consider that it's the band's first effort, is quite well done. It certainly passed the car stereo test with flying colors. Along with Truth Cell and Given with Honor, Human Ritual could hold their own against most national acts. I'd be lying if I said that Offering matches the sound of the band's live performance. Like I said about Truth Cell's Hurajan, you really must see the band live to appreciate the massive display of power that is created. It warrants mention that I do know Human Ritual as individuals from "the scene," and appreciate them as people as well as musicians. However, I can honestly say that I wouldn't change a word of this review if I had never met a single one of them. Anyway, I'm not too concerned about anyone questioning my objectivity because, in the words of Joe Perry, I'll "let the music do the talking,"-REVIEW OF HUMAN RITUAL'S 4 SONG DEMO "OFFERING" BY SCOTT ALISOGLU FOR ROCKKANSAS.COM

Additional Info WE HAVE OUR DEMO AVAILABLE FOR $5.00 OR THE GRAND-DADDY PACK CONTAINING 1 T-SHIRT(XL ONLY RIGHT NOW), C.D., STICKER, AND PROMO PIC FOR $12.00. YOU CAN ORDER THAT THROUGH OUR CONTACT E-MAIL OR FROM OUR WEB SITE.

Location Topeka, Kansas - USA

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