The Old Ways Remain Blood Ceremony

• 1 The Hellfire Club 04:48
• 2 Ipsissimus 03:11
• 3 Eugenie 06:18
• 4 Lolly Willows 03:34
• 5 Powers of Darkness 03:15
• 6 The Bonfires at Belloc Coombe 05:12
• 7 Widdershins 03:19
• 8 Hecate 02:45
• 9 Mossy Wood 04:19
• 10 Song of the Morrow 06:26
• Total Runtime 43:07

Info for The Old Ways Remain

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 in the spring. Diverse, hypnotic and eminently groovy, the new songs push Blood Ceremony’s sound into new territory while also honouring 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 realised 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 Kehayas. 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. Along the way, there are strident, balls-out psych rockers like sizzling opener The Hellfire Club (which Sean Kennedy is at pains to say was written before Netflix smash Stranger Things co-opted the phrase!), the swinging, occult stomp of Ipsissimus, the sharp and catchy Hecate, and the absurdly groovy Lolly Willows (previously released as a single in 2019); while the more expansive likes of Eugenie, The Bonfires At Belloc Coombe and wistful closer Song Of The Morrow take the band’s music into gently unfamiliar territory, as their sonorous blend of heaviness and hallucination truly takes flight.

“This album is a continuation of our sound, although with every album we try to push ourselves in some new musical directions,” Sean notes. “The album has some folk-rock songs, as well as some heavier tracks, and others with more of a pop vibe. Having said that, we can’t escape ourselves, and I think it will fit alongside our previous releases. One big difference with this record is that we included a song that wasn’t written by a band member. My wife, Amy Bowles, wrote Mossy Wood, which I think is a great folk-rock song. She had written it for an earlier group that she and I were in. It really fit the overall vibe of the record.”

And what a vibe that is. The Old Ways Remain stays true to Blood Ceremony’s illustrious past, and yet its reach is longer and broader than on any previous album. Nonetheless, the record’s title comes across as a renewed statement of intent, as the unwavering power of the riff and a huge dose of imagination collide once again, but with more style, class, and enduring impact than ever before.

“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 colours in response, the quartet are perfectly poised to renew their special relationship with nostalgic riff-worshippers everywhere.

"Needless to say, this might be Blood Ceremony’s most ambitious record to date. I found it catchier than 2016’s Lord Of Misrule, and the production values and sonic quality are absolutely top notch. The old ways have definitely not gone out of style, and this album manages to be a strongly satisfying listen." (thesleepingshaman.com)

"As the album unfolds, tracks like "Eugenie" and "Lolly Willows" further showcase Blood Ceremony's penchant for storytelling through music. Their use of vintage instrumentation combined with modern production techniques brings a fresh twist to traditional sounds. Each song is meticulously crafted to draw listeners deeper into the narrative world they create—a place where ancient rituals meet contemporary sensibilities." (supremechaos.com)

Blood Ceremony
Alia O’Brien, vocals, flute, organ
Sean Kennedy, guitars
Lucas Gadke, bass
Michael Carrillo, drums

Blood Ceremony
Since the release of their sophomore album, Living With The Ancients, Blood Ceremony has worked hard to solidify their reputation as a worthy live act. Beginning with a well-received showcase at the prestigious Roadburn Festival, the band capped-off a series of 2011 European dates with Sweden‘s GHOST, playing a sold-out, headline show in London, UK. In the fall of 2011, they completed their first headlining tour of Europe, which saw the band received enthusiastically by fans in Scandinavia and Central Europe. This tour culminated in a performance at the Hammer of Doom VI Festival in Wurzburg, Germany. In 2012 they were direct support for GHOST on the highly successful “13 Dates of Doom” North American tour. Later in 2012, Blood Ceremony performed at Calgary‘s celebrated NOCTIS V Metal Festival.

“Only at a Blood Ceremony show are devil horns the correct response to a triumphantly raised flute.“ — NOW MAGAZINE

After these live performances, Blood Ceremony enclosed themselves within a dank, tomb-like chamber to begin preparations for their third album. After a mind-numbing spell in the analogue womb of Toronto’s ProGold Studios, the band is now ready to unveil their newest, and most accomplished, musical offering: The Eldritch Dark.

Recorded and mixed by producer Ian Blurton (Cauldron, Cursed) and mastered by Canadian recording legend Nick Blagona (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Crazy World of Arthur Brown), The Eldritch Dark is a full-length paean to the darker corners of folklore and legend. Containing eight tracks of black magic rock ‘n’ roll, the album crackles with the excitement of a nocturnal ritual.

Tales of witch-cult gatherings in wooded glens, pacts made in torch-lit abbeys and Victorian magic are accompanied by vintage-style hard rock riffs, snaking bass lines and stirring flute melodies. The Eldritch Dark also sees the band exploring a more folksier side of their sound; most evident in the hymn-like “Lord Summerisle” and the murderous folk-rock epic, “Ballad of the Weird Sisters”. Nineteenth century sorcerer, Oliver Haddo, makes a return appearance in the riff-hypnotic album closer, “The Magician”.

This album contains no booklet.