Forgotten Heavy Metal Albums: "The Birth of Tragedy" by Japanese Thrash Metal Band Ritual Carnage

You hear it all the time that there is no such thing as luck. At least that’s what I thought for years like many of you may have. The truth is though that we really are lucky if we think about it. In my musical evolution, I have turned the corner. One of the albums worth reviewing is the one called The Birth of Tragedy by Japanese thrash metal band Ritual Carnage. Ritual Carnage is a band that has heavy music and even though I would listen to a song by them here and there, they were not really a band I could get into enough. With 2017 here, that feeling has changed. The Birth of Tragedy is one of those forgotten heavy metal albums that deserves credit. The band's status is unknown now but consider yourself lucky if you give this album a chance.

Damian Montgomery-vocals and bass guitars

Eddie Van Koide-guitars

Wataru Yamada-guitars

Naoya Hamaii-drums

Ritual Carnage was formed back in 1993 after Damian Montgomery left the US Air Force. He was stationed in Japan so forming the band for him was easier. 1993 was also the year that American thrash metal band Sacred Reich released Independent their best album. The opening song The Sixth Sense is about a sort of creature called The Reaper who comes to wage war upon the land. There are seven warriors, horsemen that are riding their horses to do battle in war. Horses were used before the world had tanks and advanced weapons. I wonder if the inspiration for the lyrics came from Metallica’s song The Four Horsemen or not.

The title track is about a child that is born and comes into the world being mentally impaired and the child’s growth is stunted. There are environmental factors that can led to this. Unlike other Japanese thrash metal bands such as Sacrifice and Casbah, Montgomery’s vocals although they are of the shouting type are not as harsh as those of Casbah. They are also not as hoarse as those of Sacrifice. The next song Burning Eyes of Rage is similar lyrically to the song Anger by Helstar but this song is better to listen to.

Paradox of Democracy is a song that is critical of the US government specifically. The band has lyrics pertaining to war, politics, and other social issues. The song tries to bring up the point that there is no democracy for the so-called “land of the free.” As the government incurs massive expenses, there is much waste, fraud, and eventually people that do not show their tax returns. I bet most of you know what I’m referring to here. The melodic song called Fall of the Empire is a very good song that talks about the War on Drugs and the War on Terror being massive failures which they have been on numerous fronts. One of the other excellent songs on the album is the one called Grave New World. A catchy, slow heavy guitar part is followed by a faster guitar picking part. This song is a classic example of one in which the lyrics try to say that when we are born, we are already in a mess because we will inevitably be in debt. Taxes must be paid or we face imprisonment. The song is also a criticism of the measures to enact gun control. In my view, we must have proper gun control measures because too many people lose their lives each year due to gun violence. The United States is not as bad of a country that the lyrics try to suggest but there are massive problems with the United States in the modern era.

While The Birth of Tragedy has lots of melody and good guitar play, Ritual Carnage still is not as good as other thrash metal bands such as Annihilator. Even so, for metal fans around the world, Ritual Carnage should be a band that they should give a chance to. You just might like this album and this band.