Seven years have passed since Blood Ceremony last released a full-length album, but that all changes in 2023. Pieced together during lockdown months, and brought to fruition with a host of esteemed special guests, the Canadians’ fifth album, The Old Ways Remain, is set to emerge May 5.
Diverse, hypnotic and eminently groovy, the new songs push Blood Ceremony’s sound into new territory while also honoring the atavistic ethos that has led them to such triumphs in the past. Initial plans to repeat the successful formula that birthed Lord Of Misrule and fly to the UK to record again at Toe Rag Studios in London, fell victim to Covid restrictions, and so Sean and his comrades – Alia O’Brien (vocals/flute/organ), Lucas Gadke (bass) and Michael Carillo (drums) – switched to a simpler but equally satisfying Plan B.
“By late 2021, we realized that if we were ever going to finish a new album, we’d just have to record locally and do it ourselves,” says guitarist Sean Kennedy. “And that’s what we did. We started rehearsing the material again and were still really excited by it. Once we revisited everything, we had a new burst of energy. We found a local studio that had what we needed and we were off! Recording nearby allowed us to bring in friends like Laura Bates from (fellow folk-doom crew) Völur to play fiddle, Joseph Shabason added saxophone to 'Eugenie', and Mike Eckert played pedal steel on 'Hecate'. We produced ourselves, along with our friend, Paul Keyahas. We worked with an engineer named Chris Snow who immediately got what we were trying to do. Richard Whittaker mixed the tracks at his London, UK, studio, and we think he did a great job.”
A vital testament to Blood Ceremony’s collective efficacy, The Old Ways Remain is an album for those who love great songs, great riffs and cryptic tales from the outer limits.
Album art and preorders will be available soon.
“The Old Ways Remain is taken from a line in an earlier Blood Ceremony song,” Sean explains, “It seems appropriate, actually. We always seem to come back to this idea of the ancient world haunting the present. Arthur Machen explored this in books like 'The Hill of Dreams' and his writing has been a big influence.”
Undeniably long-awaited but very much worth the wait, Blood Ceremony’s return promises to inject some otherworldly charm back into the underground. As their songwriting prowess grows and their music takes on deeper and brighter colors in response, the quartet are perfectly poised to renew their special relationship with nostalgic riff-worshippers everywhere. Come the spring, The Old Ways will cast their spell all over again.
“We’re looking forward to releasing The Old Ways Remain. It’s been a long time coming, so we’re eager to finally get the songs out there and we hope people enjoy them,” Sean concludes, "We have a UK and European tour coming up in May 2023 with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats which will be a great time. It’s been a rough few years, but the old ways remain and the ancient gods live on!”
Tracklisting:
“The Hellfire Club”
“Ipissimus”
“Eugenie”
“Lolly Willows”
“Powers Of Darkness”
“The Bonfires At Belloc Coombe”
“Widdershins”
“Hecate”
“Mossy Wood”
“Song Of The Morrow”
Tour dates with Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats:
May
6 – Edinburgh, Scotland – La Belle Angele OR Liquid Rooms
7 – London, UK – Desertfest
8 – Brugge, Belgium – Cactus Club
10 – Toulouse, France – Le Metronum
11 – Madrid, Spain – La Paqui
12 – Barcelona, Spain –Sala Apolo 2
13 – Villeurbanne, France – Le Transbordeur
15 – Zurich, Switzerland – Plaza
16 – Milan, Italy – Santeria Toscana 31
18 – Budapest, Hungary – A38 Ship
19 – Krakow, Poland – Soulstone Gathering
20 – Prague, Czech Republic – Palac Akropolis
21 – Berlin, Germany – Desertfest Berlin
