This is a very special release for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s the first one that I will write for Sado Rituals since this webzine resurrected recently. What an honor for this project, isn’t it? Being mentioned (once more) on Concreteweb, isn’t that a satisfying thought, a veneration beyond imagination, reverent worship-worthy?
No, seriously, this release is quite special, because it’s the 1,000th (!!!) release on Gates Of Hypnos! Congratulations to Przemysław ‘Sadox’ Grochowski, who runs this label as from late Spring 2020. This very same guy also runs the Christian-inspired Noise / Ambient label Militant Liturgy, and he’s the ‘musician’ (or whatever you want to call it) behind acts like, for example, His Haunted Humming, The Desert Fathers (which is a collaboration with Scott Lawlor), Holy Hermit Humming, Lazy As Molester, P~R~Z, Crepuscular Rituals (with Ken of Crepuscular Entity-fame), Space Emperor Xennu or Hailing Her Heavens, amongst others.
Anyway, this 10³th GoH-effort is (evidently?) a new creation by Przemysław’s main solo-outfit, Sado Rituals. It’s a one-track recording, called Imprinting The Mark Of The Beast, which clocks exactly forty-four (44!) minutes. Imprinting The Mark Of The Beast was recorded in December 2025, and as far as I know, there’s no physical edition available (or at least: not yet?) via the very young yet promising American label NOT of the FLESH.
In the vein of most former Sado Rituals recordings, Imprinting The Mark Of The Beast is a long-formed and monotonous (and therefor mesmerizing) collage-of-sound. It opens quite gloomy, with spoken word samples (exploring the unholy number of the Beast), eerie waves of illuminating hypnosis, and sample-like additions (like shore-waves or so). But after 66,6 seconds (more or less), monolithic drones and a scraping, somewhat industrialized sound-distortion, evolve towards a prodigious yet disquieting, even paralyzing and claustrophobic orbit. The additional levels of noises, with seemingly evil voices, instinctive pulses and insurrectional clamor, define this megalithic experience, which never fades away, yet which permanently attracts and repels. It’s addictive, because the equilibrium of draconic harshness and esoteric enlightenment sounds so well-thought (again).
Despite its length of almost three quarters of an hour, Imprinting The Mark Of The Beast never gets over the top, never annoys, and never gives in either. It’s like a soundtrack for apocalyptic delusions that adds a level of imperturbability and perspective at the very same time.
A short note about the visuals: could be a cover for a release on Militant Liturgy, but it does go well with the sonic side of this effort, for the contrast in between illumination and doom, in between devotion and demonic possession, gets obviously translated through this painting.
https://gatesofhypnos.bandcamp.com/album/imprinting-the-mark-of-the-beast
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/sado-rituals
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/sado-rituals-0
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/sado-rituals-1
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/carrion-sado-rituals
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/sado-rituals-mass-graven-image