Review by Alex on September 30, 2018.

Join this ritual, laced with obliterating drum speed, bloodthirsty vocals and restless mid-tempo buzzsaw riffing.

Imagine being a warlock, bound to an eternity of suffering for a crime committed against the heavens. Your executioners commence the torture of having you sealed in a Houdini looking mechanism under water. As your air supply diminishes, desperation grows, your pulses alert you by the second, and the struggle for survival begins. Once you see an opening towards your escape you reach out agonizingly in your pursuit of freedom. Your head bursts through the plasma separating life and death. You manage to free yourself using the ages of sorcery in your spiritual inventory. From then on, that first gasp of fresh air is the most blissful and virgin thing to your body and existence; it is like being reborn. Upon your near escape, and no time to spare, you proceed to gather the materials needed to summon the giant serpent.

With a very approachable production, Ziggurat blend dogmatic death growls with rich guitar melodies and sprinting drums. Mørk and Tohu combine forces to lay a heated hand of beating upon the buttocks of the beholder with "Summoning the Giant Serpent". "Blind Faith" then seizes the listener and takes him/her for an unforgettable ride on Ziggurats black magic broomstick to the serpent's domain. This is the song that glues each element of the spell together, it is the combobulation of the band's musical and occult expertise.

The walloping drumming prompts unwarranted changes in the heart rate; the race to the climax is marked by heavy breathing as you approach the ceremony being "Death Rites Transcendence". This melodic monstrosity grooves you into the presence of "laced mutton" with whom you dance with, break bread, sip wine and lay. Quite a journey it is whilst being only a 20-minute nefarious joyride of an EP. Truly a work of witchcraft Ritual Miasma is; like a forbidden glance into a live West Indian Obea ceremony, a Qabalah coven of the unclean or an evil invocation. 

What lies ahead in the depths is yet to be unveiled. However; this short memorable liturgy will suffice your appetite until the next series of ruthlessness slithers from the bed of the chasm.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10