Review by JD on June 26, 2017.

I never know when a band that comes in for review will either blow me away with its brilliance or if I just want to tell them to simply blow,… and yet I live for the moment when a band impacts me either way.  Will the California based goth/thrash metal Arcane Ritual be the one to blow my mind or simply just fizzle out?

The duo known as Arcane Ritual (Teresa Camp: vocals and Jarek Tatarek: all instruments) delivers a magnificent emboldened hybrid of goth, doom and thrash metal melding together into a very powerful form with some progressive elemental touches. Merging marvellously haunting but stunning vocals with heavy twisting music that seems to be alive all on its own, this is an act with incredible vision, tonnes of passion and all of the musical chops to back it all up.

Normally, I do not like EP's… as they are far too short of a format for anyone to make a good review on a band at the best of times, but this particular EP is the exception to even my own quirky rules.  With just three songs offered, it quickly wets the hard-to-find-usually curiosity part of my brain because of its power as it soars with authority… all the while its haunting artistic tone lifts it into a higher class, swirling and growing with every word sung, and riff produced.  It is a sleeping giant, waiting for the metal masses to discover and enjoy.

Simply put, Enemy of the State leaves me wanting to hear much more from Arcane Ritual, and wanting to see just how the music will grow in the future as well.  I wait for the next album, EP or single... Though I am hoping it will be a full album.  The album is a sleeping giant, waiting for the metal masses to discover and make grow.  Let’s wake the Giant of a band, and unleash it to the metal world… shall we?

Rating: 9 out of 10