Ramblings from The Ritual: From Fire and Ash: A Satanic Rite
Venue: Center Stage – Vinyl
Tombs, Withered, All Hell, Summoner’s Circle
11/3/18
The Atlanta Chapter of the Satanic Temple in conjunction with A. Rippin productions held a benefit show on November 3rd. I was already in the area attending Mass Destruction Metal Fest II, so for $5 why not go check out these bands and a true to life satanic ritual? I was admittedly curious as to what this was going be. Hollywood has instilled in me some very pre-conceived notions about Satanism and having listened to Heavy Metal during the Satanic Panic of the 80’s and 90’s, it seemed like a logical choice to see what all of the fuss was about.
As for the music, I was really looking forward to seeing Summoner’s Circle out of Tennessee, but a busted tire kept them from making the trek down. I have seen video of their performance and the music is great. There’s a very theatrical element to their performance that I was hoping to witness first hand, but it was not to be. Maybe sometime soon!
With the absence of Summoner’s Circle, I was unsure of the actual start times of the bands and I regretfully missed the start of All Hell’s set. This 3 piece hailing from Asheville was fantastic! The best way I can describe them to you is if Goatwhore and Skeletonwitch made a super group. Very powerful Black and Roll metal. The songs were great and the fans really enjoyed them. They have been signed by Prosthetic Records and these guys are going places and I mean fast! I can’t wait to see them again.
Up next was Atlanta’s own black metal group, Withered. I have seen them before and they didn’t really put the starch in my shorts, so I opted to watch Mortuary upstairs, which was a much better choice. After the Mortuary set, I went back downstairs to see the last bit of Withered’s set. Nothing really special there. Maybe because I had just watched a legendary band play, or it was because there is no real substance to Withered, which is more likely the truth.
While waiting for TOMBS to set up, and checking out a neon Baphomet sign, the guy in the back asked me if I wanted some corpse paint. I decided I would take him up on his offer, and he really did a cool job. Lots of stitches and scars. TOMBS started up and the crowd came to life. They were supporting their latest release, The Grand Annihilation. This New York based outfit blends elements from Hardcore, Doom, and Black Metal for their experimental sound. They were really good and very energetic. I was not really familiar with much of their music so I can’t really provide any of the songs, but I would recommend giving them a spin. Very interesting stuff.
And then, the point in the evening I was most anxious about was before me, The Satanic Ritual! I want to make a couple of statements here, so please bear with me. I am a confirmed Agnostic. I do not know what powers are out there, so I don’t accept nor deny anything. I believe in treating everyone with respect and being good to each other. I don’t need a book to tell me that. I go to church with my wife and have very good friends that are pastors. I also identify with some of the ideals of Satanism (if you bring harm to me or my house, I will destroy you). But ultimately, I support the rights of the Satanic Temple to be an organization, and to be free to practice their beliefs just as anyone is free to practice theirs. I was very anxious and didn’t know what I had set myself up for.
In my heart I wanted an experience that would shock and awe me, make feel like I had just witnessed something unbelievable, something I shouldn’t have even been a party to. Well, I got that in spades, but in a bad way. The ritual ended up being a cross between a bad high school drama production and something I would expect to see at Dragon-Con. There were two guards on the stage in very elaborate demon makeup and armor, as well as 3 witches, and a sorceress; then the head witch took the stage. A voice from offstage narrated the events that were clumsily transpiring – one of the witches dropped the “ceremonial” (plastic) dagger as she was presenting it to the main witch, then the glyph of all our energies lit up a neon box. It had to be destroyed or some such nonsense.
They asked for a volunteer (plant) from the audience to be the vessel for the demon they were conjuring, who I saw walk behind the little curtain they had in place. After some dancing very reminiscent of the soothsayers from the 300 film, the lights went out; he (the vessel) fell backwards knocking the curtain down and the demon appeared. A soundtrack played of the conversation between the sorceress and the demon and that was it. Oh yeah, we were invited to the Highlander for the next performance in November.
Needless to say, I was quite disappointed in what I witnessed. I know that there were people in the crowd who were probably Satanists. I also believe there were some practicing Wiccans and some hipsters there for the sole purpose to brag about it at their upcycled shop in Hipsterville. I know there were others like me who were just curious as to what this was about, and probably left with more questions than answers. I know I did. No one approached anyone about joining or becoming a member, which is cool for the no pressure aspect, but you would think if you have a captive audience, why not talk about what you are about and what the plans are for the organization. For me, I wanted this to be serious and for the organization to be taken seriously. But do they even take themselves seriously, or is this just something to do? I guess the same could be said for many other members of many other religions as well.
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