Rituals of Passion
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley October 13, 2024
Artist – Byron Metcalf & Ari Urban
Distributor: Bandcamp
Released: June 2024
Running Time: 1 hr 5 mins
Website: https://byronmetcalf.bandcamp.com/album/rituals-of-passion
Facebook:
Instagram:
X formally Twitter:
Shamanic practitioner and iconic tribal dance drummer/composer Byron Metcalf has combined his intensely dynamic drumming with sound healer and violinist Ari Urban to create a journey of contrasts in dark and light, ebb and flow, earth and sky guided by divine spirituality in Rituals of Passion.
Just over one hour in duration the songs flow gently into one another, created for long periods of meditation or reflection, but each of the nine songs can also be selected at will to be enjoyed in their exceptional glory.
Known for his tribal drumming Metcalf’s perfectly timed album Rituals of Passions, has arrived at a time when there is a great need for people to be able to reconnect with Mother Earth through the most primitive of elements, that of drumming: to connect with the heartbeat of a troubled world, to bring a gentle healing to the earth and the people in distress.
Ari Urban’s intense and etheric violin weeps throughout the songs adding an element of air meets earth to each of the songs. As Metcalf is a Shamanic practitioner, this comes through in the often trance like compositions.
Not an album to be used without care, Rituals of Passion should be utilised when there is time to immerse the body, mind and soul in the rhythms being created to allow connectedness to commence, healing to begin and spiritual malaise to be cleared.
Use of the healing and melodic didgeridoo from DashMesh on a number of the tracks adds a time old ancient healing method to a combination of drums and violin. Rituals of Passion is unique transcendental meditation music created from deep meditation, improv elements and divine intervention, to deliver immensely healing, harmonic vibrations so badly needed in the very present now.