Ritual Divination, the new album by Afrobeat / metal / funk / psych / who gives a damn band Here Lies Man, is the first one they’ve recorded as a full four-piece (Marcos Garcia – guitar / vocals, Geoff Mann – drums, J.P. Maramba – bass, and Doug Organ – keyboards) and the power and chops of their heavy groove live shows comes through on each track.
The opening guitars in “In These Dreams” is straight-up classic metal with keyboard stabs to shove you into the first scene of the “movie” that is Ritual Divination. In case you didn’t know, each HLM album (and live show) is essentially written and performed like a soundtrack to a film that’s different for everyone hearing it. With “In These Dreams,” you’re already thinking, “Well, this is a bad-ass movie and we’re still in the opening credits.”
The next track deals with one of HLM’s favorite subjects – mortality. “I Told You (You Shall Die)” starts out with a slow, trudging rhythm and then transforms into an epic space rock jam with the band both reminding us of our impending departure from this reality, but also telling us to not fear something we cannot truly comprehend. “Underland” is the shortest track on the album, clocking in at just under two-and-a-half minutes, but it packs a lot of guitar power into that short (compared to the other tracks) time frame.
The riffs on “What You See” immediately make your whole body sway forward and back with them. It’s a certain groove that HLM do so well and gets your attention at the outset. As good as it is, somehow the groove on “Can’t Kill It” is even better – possibly because it ups the funk and stirs it up with killer bass and keyboard work. “Run Away Children” is almost hypnotic with its trance-like vocals.
“I Wander” is a standout, with Maramba’s bass hitting hard, Mann’s jazz background being on full display, and Organ and Garcia working so well together it’s difficult to tell where one of them ends and the other begins. HLM let us know that you can cut and strut all you want, but “night comes all the same” on “Night Comes” – another reminder of our mortality and to embrace impermanence. “Come Inside” chugs along like a train powered by onyx instead of coal.
“Collector of Vanities” could be a song for most of us. How much junk do all of us have? How many selfies do we take? How many do we filter, polish, and recolor in order to project an illusion to the world? HLM encourage us, through the power of fiery rock, to de-clutter our collection and focus within instead of on the surface. The title of “Disappointed” is repeated almost like a mantra through the track. As for what HLM is disappointed in…well, they did record the album in 2020 so it’s anybody’s guess.
“You Would Not See from Heaven” gives a strong nod toward their Black Sabbath influences – in both the sweaty, heavy groove and its somewhat doomy title – although I suspect the song is more about how, in heaven, you would not see your desires, vanities, and illusions because you are free from them. “I want to run, I want the night…” Garcia sings on “The Fates Have Won.” They always do. You might not think they will, but they have infinite patience. “Out Goes the Night” is a song that is both heavy as stone and yet uplifting as the sunrise at the same time (“In comes the light, out goes the night.”). The closer, “Cutting through the Tether,” puts down a slick drum groove (with extra hand percussion to boot) as Organ’s keys, Garcia’s guitar, and Maramba’s bass slither in the background like asps waiting to strike.
It’s another solid record from Here Lies Man, who continue to put out work that is hard to define, but once you hear it you want all of it you can get.
Keep your mind open.
[I divine that today is the day you’ll subscribe.]
[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]
