SF Bay Area metallers KILL RITUAL are set to release their new album ‘Karma Machine’ on September 18th via Scarlet Records. To give a taster of what’s coming up, the band has unvealed a video trailer “The Making Of The Rise” for their upcoming video “Rise”, which the band finished shooting just recently at Sound Wave Studios in Oakland CA. with Mike Sloat (Testament, Machine Head, Lynard Skynard) that will introduce the new line up prior to the September 18th release.

Vocalist David Reed Watson tells the back story about the “Rise” video:

This past July I headed up to San Francisco to do a video shoot with my new band Kill Ritual. We met with Videographer/Producer Mike Sloat and his crew in the morning at Soundwave Studios. Soundwave Studios doesn’t look like much… a bit run down from the outside, but on the inside you can feel its history. Bands like Metallica, Testament, Machine Head, Exodus and many others have called this place home at one point or another.

Mike Sloat had the lyrics to our song ‘Rise’ for a good two weeks and we could tell that he got the picture of them because he took the wheel and ran with it. We didn’t question anything that he did because this dude’s a pro. He’s shot videos for Skynyrd, Testament, Staind, Tom Waits, Machine Head, and the list goes on…

Let me backtrack a bit to the day before the shoot.

I flew in to San Jose, where Steven D. Rice, the guitarist lives. I was picked up by Koryun Bobikyan, our drummer. He’s Armenian and he makes me laugh because he sounds exactly like my other Armenian friend in LA, Chris Melikyan. Very friendly guy, much bigger than I expected from his photos. His arms are like tree trunks and he pounds the drums like Bonham! This will blow your mind… He has never broken a stick. Serious. I questioned him about this and asked if he was for real… he was dead serious. I won’t mention what he said about drummers breaking sticks because I have some very good friends that are amazing drummers that break them all the time. Respect.

Kore, as he likes to be called, and I headed over to Steven’s house. So here I am with these two dudes that I’ve never met before. The initial fear runs through your head, you know, like, Am I going to like these guys? But that fear was quickly replaced when we all sat at the kitchen table and started telling jokes, talking about labels, bands, etc. It was a relief really because Steven and I had been collaborating on this album for several months together. I got a good sense of who he was from telephone conversations, but you know what it’s like. It’s like a blind date. Ha!

The only person we were waiting for was the Bass player. A guy from LA that both Steven and I got a good vibe from. Good looking guy, long hair, great bass player. Kind of a hidden gem in the LA scene. Someone I had never heard of. I had a couple of my friends scouting for players for us.

Heidi Horvath, a photographer, and DJ Will who really needs no introduction. So when Bobby HQ Storm came along I had to trust my instincts on this one and trust that my friends weren’t throwing me just anybody. After a lot of weeding out of different players we chose Bobby. Not just for the fact that he was good looking and could play the bass but the fact that he was willing to drive up to San Francisco, sight unseen with only our CD to judge us by. That to me says a lot about somebody’s character. He never once mentioned money, compensation or anything like that. He knew what he was walking into. CD, Label, Touring. All he needed to do was show up. So when Bobby showed up at Steven’s house and the four of us sat around the table, it was a relief for all of us. Now we have a band.

When we left Soundwave Studios it had taken 6 hours of shooting, multiple takes of the song as a whole band and individually. By the end of the shoot we were all dripping with sweat from the multiple lights surrounding us all day long. It was nice to have Mike directing us the whole way and also nice to watch the process. He’s a true artist. He knows how to get the shot he wants and had his guys moving lights, cables, you name it just to get the exact shot that he had pictured in his head. He never missed a beat and I highly recommend him for anybody that can afford to invest themselves into a quality product.

Our CD releases September 18th on Scarlet Records. I’m sure you’re going to love it because it’s something we poured our heart into for you to enjoy.

‘Karma Machine’ is a powerful sonic beast that can be described as the perfect mix of all the band’s influences. Encompassing 9 tracks, the CD finds Kill Ritual going from heavy to melodic while retaining their thrash roots. The album was once again produced by guitarist Steven D. Rice and mixed/mastered by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. Artwork was completed by longtime Kill Ritual artist Jobert Mello (Sabaton, Primal Fear, Benedictum). ‘Karma Machine’ also marks the debut of new vocalist David Reed Watson, drummer Koryun Bobikyan and bassist Bobby HQ Storm. The album will be available starting from September 18. More information at http://www.scarletrecords.it and http://www.killritual.com.

‘Karma Machine’ track listing:
Just A Cut
Rise
The Enemy Inside
The Key
Karma Machine
My Green Room
Kundalini
Land Of The Dead
The Camera’s Eye

Vocalist David has this to say about the new CD “Karma Machine will take the fans on a journey not traditionally seen in metal while still maintaining its metal roots. This is some of my best writing and singing to date and I’m positive Kill Ritual will take the world by storm.”

Kill Ritual 2015:
David Reed Watson-Vocals
Steven D. Rice-Guitar
Koryun Bobikyan-Drums,violin
Bobby HQ Storm-Bass