Canadian death/doom metal band Rötual announces debut album »For The Dead«; out March 20th via Remorseless Records!

Ontario, Canada based death/doom metal band Rötual has announced their debut album, »For The Dead«, which will be released on March 20th, 2026 via Remorseless Records. The album will be available in CD, tape and digital formats.

Tracklist:
01. For The Dead
02. Hell Is Other People
03. Worms
04. Mycelium
05. Into The Void
06. Chant d’automne
07. De Profundis Clamavi
08. L’horreur du vide
09. To Live Is To Rot

Album description:

At the end of an early autumn day, as the dusk settles over the countryside, the wind dies and a long shadow stretches out of an old barn. Four men venture with a grave expression into an abandoned field, equipped with a few shovels and a lantern. As they plant their rusty tools and start their bidding for the dead, a forgotten evil is about to be awoken. …a slow and deadly doom is about to be unearthed.

»For The Dead« is the first full-length of Canadian death-doom entity Rötual. Taking inspiration from the 1990’s underground artistic scene, the musicians are revisiting the early days of death-doom metal, a time when riffs and melodies were bred into more direct forms of expression. As an analogy, imagine Obituary covering Candlemass, with lyrics written by Stephen King or James Herbert.

Rötual’s first full-length album is a serviceable 36 minutes. From the doomy introduction of »For The Dead« and »Hell Is Other People«, it then shifts to the death metal hooks of single »Worms«. The album continues alternating between these melodic doom and groovy death metal moments, before ending on the dramatic anthem of »To Live Is To Rot«.

»For The Dead« was produced by Topon Das (Fuck The Facts), and mixed and mastered at Apartment 2 in Ottawa.

Photo credits: Axis Photography

About Rötual:

Hailing from the graveyard of Canada’s National Capital Region, Rötual is a relatively new metal entity. The band garners the experience of well-known musicians in the Gatineau and Ottawa scene (incl. Signs Of Chaos, Norilsk, Cruel Fate, Whispers In The Maze, Dead Culture Society, ex-Fumigation, ex-Mörtor) who, instead of adding their collective influences, chose to strip it down to the bones. As a result, Rötual’s music could be associated with the slow riffs of doom metal, the heaviness and harsh vocals of death metal, melted into compact slabs of mid-pace (de)compositions.

Rötual released a first EP, »Wörms«, in 2024. Presenting the terrible ear-worm single, with its infectious chorus and groovy riffs, this first EP also included two French alternative versions of songs to be found on the forthcoming full length album, thus illustrating the bilingual nature of the band. Since its inception in 2023, the band has performed live regularly, thus developing a strong stage personality. The time has now come to unearth the first full-length release of the band, »For The Dead«.

Like a dead corpse with strabismus, Rötual’s rotten music has an eye turned to the past and one eye turned on you. It knows how to churn the tradition of old school death-doom, while also bringing forth a production and a live experience that speaks to today’s audience.

All songs written, arranged and performed by Rötual.
Lyrics by N. Miquelon, except Tracks 6 and 7 adapted from Charles Baudelaire.
Drums and vocals recorded at Apartment 2.
Guitars and bass recorded by Tom Hansen.
Mixed and mastered by Topon Das.
Artwork by Headsplit Design.
Band photo by Axis Photography.

Rötual is:
Nic Miquelon – Vocals
Ben Bertrand Bass and Backing Vocals
Tom Hansen – Guitars
Mike Berrigan – Drums

FFO: Cemetary, Paradise Lost, Asphyx, Obituary, Candlemass, Lake Of Tears, (early) Amorphis

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well