Review by Fernando on September 28, 2025.

You know what bands I miss? Antaeus and Aosoth. Yes, the French black metal bands fronted by MkM, which came to prominence in the 2000s alongside their countrymen Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord. While Antaeus has been in an extended hiatus and Aosoth was dissolved in 2017, MkM hasn’t retreated into complete darkness, kinda. Aside from taking part in the international supergroup Martröð, he remained relatively in the down low, until the pandemic, when he joined forces with fellow French musician TerrorReign aka Kaarpath of Necroblood and Impure Ziggurath and invited US-based lead shredder Arafel to form a new project Destruction Ritual, which in 2025 released their debut album Providence through MkM’s co-conspirators Norma Evangelium Diaboli.

Those familiar with MkM’s past work may have preconceptions of what Destruction Ritual is, and while he still displays his demonically hateful growls and the music is still in the realm of black metal and shares the dark spirit of his previous projects, Destruction Ritual is its own beast, with its own distinct sound and aesthetic. The best way to describe the sound of Providence and what makes it different from the projects of both MkM and TerrorReign is a focus on absolute dread, the album violently swerves between intense speeds and slow funereal marches with seamless ease, and in that same breath, there’s a perfect melding of straightforward primitive black metal with more unorthodox and complex musicianship, courtesy of lead guitarist Arafel and session drummer Blastum, which is then further enhanced with some truly terrifying atmosphere that ooze terror and despair and it all coalesces and coagulates into a truly hypnotic yet horrifying symphony of darkness and despair.

While I mentioned fans of MkM’s previous bands should temper or flat out abandon their expectations, that doesn’t mean Destruction Ritual isn’t in line with MkM’s work, if anything this feels like a perfect continuation from those bands; whereas Antaeus was marked by pure sonic violence and unrelenting aggression, and Aosoth was more angular and ritualistic with an avant-garde bent, Destruction Ritual is relentless despair and horror, TerrorReign’s and Arafel’s songwriting combine the complexity of orthodox black metal with the sheer grimness of early black metal, and the resulting sound is both classic and timeless, and with a production that’s clear sounding but perfectly suited for the band’s particular style since the sinister atmospheres and complex string work and drumming benefit from the clear sound.

Overall, while I do miss Antaeus and Aosoth as much as the next fan of orthodox and unorthodox black metal, Destruction Ritual is a perfect scratch for that itch while also being a wholly unique entity that brings a much needed sense of terror since a lot of bands within black metal seemed content to follow the Satanic path or take more philosophical and mystical routes, MkM, TerrorReign and Arafel instead want you to face the darkness and tremble at its nameless horrors and atrocities.

Rating: 10 out of 10