Hi and welcome to the pages of Soulgrinder Zine. Ritual Moon is a name that is growing within the extreme metal community in the States. With the release of your demo, do you think it will continue your strong influence within the metal ranks?
Belen (vox/guitar): Hell yeah. As a demo, it’s our starting point and it will prove how far we can go in the long run.
Mars (drums): We do hope to release more material in the future, but yes, we are confident with our demo and we hope people will listen to it for a long time, it’s the perfect introduction to what ritual moon is.
Rachel (bass): Yes, I do! As a fan of Belen & mars before I joined, I think the following albums that Ritual Moon comes out with will continue to do the same.
Being a female extreme metal act, have you met fans that were inspired to pick up an instrument and start their own musical projects?
Belen: I’ve been lucky to meet some other chicks that have said I’ve inspired them. Those experiences have been so humbling and dope. I only hope they keep it up and prove it to themselves that they can do anything!
Mars: I always strive to inspire people to pick up their instruments and get into music, especially females, I wanna show everyone that u can do whatever u want no matter what age or what restrictions I might have!
Rachel: I haven't met anyone yet, but I hope someone gets inspired to pick up any musical instrument and start something!
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself, give us a bit of background to Ritual Moon and how you formed.
Belen: Around spring of 2018, Mars and I started this band as a side project to jam other genres (like black metal, death metal, doom and thrash), which were different than what we were currently playing with another band. We picked up the pace in terms of practice days and we came up with a band name. We hit the studio in March 2019 and released a demo right before our first show that same month. After playing live for 5 months, we decided to get a bassist to beef up our sound. Now we’re here!
Rachel: My name is Rachel and I play bass. I'm actually the newest member of the band, Belen and mars started Ritual Moon
What can we expect from Ritual Moon on stage?
Screeching highs and low growls from Belen, heavy black/death riffs discharged out from Orange amps, fast cymbals, drum fills and pounding double pedals from Mars, and thick, heavy distorted bass lines from Rachel. Collectively, we are excited onstage and have fun at every point of the performance. In short - full energy and force coming from all of us, you’ll only know once you see us live!
What are the next goals for the band?
New music, release a full album before the end of 2020, more shows, and continuous improvement and growth.
What would you say to the haters out there who don’t believe females can play extreme music?
We don’t have to say anything. All we have to do is make our music.
I think You’re taking baby steps, but leaving a big footprint.
Belen: Thanks! I would rather leave room for anticipation than to lay everything on the table. Nonetheless, we’re working towards things.
Outside of heavy metal what do you listen to?
Belen: A lot of different genres, from old school hip hop, to reggae, big band jazz, classical, synth wave, retro wave, some indie rock, psychedelic garage rock. I’ll listen to anything…. Except country music. Haha!
Mars: I listen to a lot of different genres from reggae to old school hip hop, as long as it’s got rhythm!
Rachel: I enjoy all different types of music, from jazz to rock en Espanol to flamenco.
Who writes the lyrics in your band?
Belen: Lyrical topics range from death, self-reflection, rituals in killing men, rituals in killing babies, self-empowerment, and sexual play. We don’t have a theme we are following, but rather I write whatever I feel like at the moment.
What are your influences?
Belen: For guitar, I love death metal and black metal bands, so that creeps into my style. I can’t note any person in particular, but my playing can portray influences such as Black Sabbath, Bathory, Impetigo, and Autopsy.
Mars: Me as a drummer I wanna bring a lot of Venom influence and we’ll as Cruel Force, those are my two biggest influential bands
Rachel: Geezer Butler, Charles Mingus, Geddy Lee, Comus ... And many more
What would be your dream tour to go out on?
Belen: If I had to choose bands to tour with, I would love to tour with Asagraum or Hellripper. Where? Everywhere on this planet. Europe for sure. I hear they’re fuckin sick ass fans and get crazy.
Mars: I would love to tour South America!!!! Even Europe! It would be great to be able to take our music far beyond!
Rachel: South America
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| Photography by Jorge Branca |
Belen: We can’t predict the future, so all we can do is continue to create music, have fun, connect with people who dig it, and work hard.
Well, thanks so much for your time answering this interview. I wish you the best of luck with your projects and all and hope to hear a full length soon. Is there anything else you want to say?
Thanks for having us, Paul! You’ve been a strong supporter of the underground metal community. To everyone else reading, if you haven’t done so already, you can download our demo for free through our bandcamp (www.ritualmoon.bandcamp.com). Also, we have a few videos on YouTube from our practice sessions and live shows. We’ll continue to upload on there as well. You can stream our music on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and more platforms. We have merch (shirts, stickers, and physical copies of demos) and we ship worldwide. However, whatever we have now will not be reprinted. We like to keep merch limited. BUT…. We will release new merch with the full album. AS ALWAYS, DO WHAT THOU WILT & EMPOWER YOURSELF.
www.instagram.com/ritual.moon
www.ritualmoon.bandcamp.com
Interview by Paul Caravasi
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