Cleveland’s Ritual Bronze pull heavily from the emotional weight of early-2000s emo and post-hardcore, but their debut LP never feels like a nostalgia exercise.
Featuring Ryan Hardwick (Last Gasp) alongside Bob Adams, Justin Scardami, Mike Wyant, and Seth Hansen, the Ohio band channel the quiet/loud tension of groups like On the Might of Princes, The Casket Lottery, and The Appleseed Cast into something far more lived-in and personal. Their self-titled debut arrives this June through Steadfast Records and Sweet Cheetah Records.
No Echo is pleased to help premiere the music video for "Memories Lodged in the Nervous System," a track from the forthcoming album:
The Ritual Bronze LP wrestles with addiction, heartbreak, aging within punk culture, and the strange emotional drift that comes with watching life reshape around you. One of the clearest examples is “40 Year Corpse,” which vocalist Ryan Hardwick describes plainly as “an addiction song.”
“I’m not proud of it, but I’ve been grinding my body into dust on and off for over 20 years with drugs and booze,” Hardwick says. “I’m thrilled to share that I’ve got a handle on that stuff now, but the song was written about the mental war active addiction does to thinking with clarity."
Even at its loudest, the record feels reflective rather than self-destructive for aesthetic reasons. “I’m such a happier person these days,” Hardwick adds. “Glad those days are behind me.”
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Ritual Bronze album will be out on June 12 via Steadfast Records and Sweet Cheetah Records (pre-order).
Ritual Bronze on social media: Instagram
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