Noiz Ritual dives deep into attention-seeking in new track "Abuse Me" [Review]

The electro-provocateur Noiz Ritual re-emerges with "Abuse Me," a brooding, gloriously queasy meditation on the human need for validation. The band, established in 2022, is both impossibly chill and undeniably gifted, and it brings all of that magic to bear on a song that's at once a song assault and a psychological portrait. Digging into the emotional mayhem often hidden beneath confidence and charisma, the song deconstructs the toxic cycle of attention addiction, which the band calls, fittingly enough, "queen-dramatitis." We Might Be Drowning, under siege by the need to be loved and coddled by the spotlight, Noiz Ritual smashes into that spiral with a punch that lands inside your gut.

Blasting out of the gate, you're thrown into an infection of volatility forged by Nick Christolis' razor-guitar working, a current that walks the line between melody and menace. Ilias Xirogiannis provides a slinky under-the-radar bassline, which underpins the emotional heft of the track as it allows for a pulse, a near claustrophobic nervous energy to what's going on. Drummer Mantalena Krikelli is a powerhouse behind the kit with a thunderous precision that is performed parallel to the lyrics' emotional whiplash. And anchoring it all is John Varvatos, whose vocals are a study in controlled chaos, naked at times, defiant at others. There's a methodical agitation to "Abuse Me" that distinguishes it. Instead of romanticizing those extremes of the attention-driven mentality, the song uncovers the cracks, the pain, the confusion, and the self-destruction. It's flamboyant, yes, but not over the top. Every scream, breakdown, and note reaches you through an application of that filthy grime.

Noiz Ritual is making statements. In "Abuse Me," they confront head-on, bravely, unblinkingly something staggeringly familiar in modern life, which they help to give form through riffs, rhythm, and raw emotion. In any case, it's one of those tracks that doesn't so much stay with you as it haunts you. As they carve their way further into the alt-metal scene, Noiz Ritual demonstrates comfort with getting dirty in the honest truth of it all. "Abuse Me" is a song and a mirror, cracked but never shattered.

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