Ritual Abuse

by Cough

Overview

Cough's sophomore opus, 2010's Ritual Abuse, finds the Richmond, VA quartet stepping up to the plate, in a sense, in recognition of their new deal with Relapse Records, delivering a markedly consistent set of imposing, claustrophobic sludge/doom slabs. In fact, protracted slow grinds like "Mind Collapse," "A Year in Suffering," and the title track exploit the band's dual nature -- part doom, part sludge -- with almost predictable balance: shifting back and forth between corrosive riffs topped with ragged screams and sorrowful chords capped with whiney Ozzy-style vocals like a couple of co-dependent drug addicts rooming together at a rehab center. With needle-scarred arms draped around each other, these songs lumber and stumble about drunkenly; seemingly oblivious to the periodic strains of blissed-out psychedelia, outer space sound effects, and blinding distortion that occasionally interrupt their search for the next fix; all the while tormented by satanic incantations and occult rituals to boot. Nestled amid these epics, there's a relative "quick one" called "Crippled Wizard" and the acoustically enhanced "Crooked Spine," but they barely distract from Cough's willingly self-destructive, "doom what thou wilt" ethos, which is to say: this is heavy stuff. And, thanks to the steady hand brought to the proceedings by producer/sponsor Sanford Parker, Cough's songs generally arrive at their destination, however long they take to get there, without in any way "ritually abusing" listeners along the way. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia

Product Details

Release Date:	01/19/2024
Label:	Relapse Records
UPC:	0781676519019
Rank:	65131

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Cough   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Sanford Parker   Producer,Engineer
Collin Jordan   Mastering
Glyn Smyth   Artwork
Brandon Marcey   Group Member
Parker Chandler   Group Member,Composer
Joseph Arcaro   Composer,Group Member
David Cisco   Composer,Group Member