Since their formation in 2006, the Toronto based Blood Ceremony have been blending their dedication to saturnalia and occult lore with their obsession with early ‘70s groups such as Coven and Black Widow to create their blend of folksy psych-doom. Blood Ceremony likes to keep things straightforward and heavy, never straying far from the formula they have created for themselves.

The album gets started with Master Of Confusion which gets going like most songs on the album with thick Sabbathy riffing. The atmosphere created by the organ gives the track a psychedelic vibe similar to that of early Deep Purple. Singer Alia O’Briens, with her lower range and sometimes monotone vocal delivery, recalls at times Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane). Besides supplying the vocals and the organ, she also gives the album its atmosphere her Ian Anderson-inspired flute playing. The rest of the album is besieged with her energetic flute solos, which do get tiresome by the end of the CD. I honestly would have liked to hear more of the organ playing throughout the rest of the album.

The production of the album is crystal clear, every instrument is clearly heard and O’Briens words are understandable. Stylistically, the music is performed well and somewhat genuine; however, lyrically I find the whole thing to be tad boring. They offer little if no insight into their saturnalia or occult beliefs, creatively no more interesting than a cheap Halloween party album.

Over all, the album is a decent listen. I have been recently listening to a lot of early ‘70s releases and Blood Ceremony sounds very much like it could have been released in that era. It would have been nice if the album had offered more depth in the song writing department which would make the songs seem less repetitive. But, don’t get me wrong, if you are into folksy doom then this album will be your cup of brew.