More of an EP than a full-blooded album, these 30+ minutes serve as a suiting display of all the band’s strongest and weakest assets. Opener ‘Far Out’ is a prime example of just what NAMELESS DAY RITUAL aim for – a very, very modern and well polished sound combining crushing metal (with a load of hardcore influences) with melodic and somewhat psychedelic alt rock, tasty guitar solos and almost pop arrangements. Band’s prime composer happens to be drummer Lachezar Georgiev and the tracks don’t lack a strong rhythm section but ‘Birth’ shines through with its lush guitar sound, effortlessly switching between simple nu-metal riffs, metal battering and up tempo hard rock.

 

Yet, Asya Katrandzhieva’s vocals seem to be NAMELESS DAY RITUAL’s most distinctive feature. She shouts/screams/grows infernally well and handles melodic choruses just as masterfully. The harsh guitars/sweet female voice is by no means a genius new combination but it seems to be working pretty well here.

 

From its cover design to the lyrics and the overall sound, ‘Birth’ is one slick affair. Still, NAMELESS DAY RITUAL are doubtlessly good but never go way beyond that, being competent enough not to sound dull but never brave enough to become truly spectacular. Stylistically various (going from Deftones straight to In Flames), this albums sometimes wanders off into too many various styles all at once, losing its coherent nature. Still, apart from rather unconvincing tracks like ‘The Long Run’, you get the pretty hard-hitting ones like ‘Far Out’ and ‘I’.

 

‘Birth’ is no doubt an initial step in the right direction for NAMELESS DAY RITUAL, we’re waiting for the more convincing second one.