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The Rite is a new band made up of musicians from Denmark and Italy that play a mix of black and traditional metal on their debut album, Liturgy of the Black. The tempos are on the slower side which keeps the atmosphere of the album dark and ominous. The vocals are the blackest part of Liturgy of the Black, raspy but intelligible, especially on the choruses of cuts like "Children of Belial" and "Trespassing the Chapel." The Rite have a come up with a decent approach that deserves kudos for not sounding like everything else being released these days (read: black/thrash metal) but other than the previously mentioned songs, which are above average, the rest of the album goes by in a somewhat generic blur. Liturgy of the Black doesn't blow me away, but I feel like this is a band with a better than even chance of coming up with something that might, so I will be watching for their next release.