Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

THINK LIKE A MOUNTAIN

Ritual

Crossover Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Ritual Think Like a Mountain album cover
3.92 | 117 ratings | 7 reviews | 26% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

Write a review

Buy RITUAL Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Studio Album, released in 2003

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. What Are You Waiting For (3:52)
2. Humble Decision (4:06)
3. Explosive Paste (5:05)
4. Once the Tree Would Bloom (3:56)
5. Mother You've Been Gone for Much Too Long (7:02)
6. Think Like a Mountain (5:00)
7. Moomin Took My Head (4:37)
8. Infinite Justice (6:34)
9. On (2:59)
10. Shamanarama (4:33)
11. Breathing (4:16)
12. Off (2:22)

Total Time 54:22

Line-up / Musicians

- Patrik Lundström / lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
- Jon Gamble / pianos, organs, synths, Mellotron
- Fredrik Lindqvist / bass, bouzouki, dulcimer, whistles, recorders
- Johan Nordgren / drums & percussion, mallets, nyckelharpa

With:
- Amanda Hallstedt / cello
- Lovisa Hallstedt / violin, viola, electric violin solo (2)

Releases information

Artwork: Jon Gamble and Fredrik Lindqvist

CD Tempus Fugit ‎- TF VÖ 12 (2003, Germany)

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
Edit this entry

Buy RITUAL Think Like a Mountain Music



RITUAL Think Like a Mountain ratings distribution


3.92
(117 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(26%)
26%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(50%)
50%
Good, but non-essential (20%)
20%
Collectors/fans only (3%)
3%
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
2%

RITUAL Think Like a Mountain reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Greger
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars I've been a fan of RITUAL since their splendid self-titled debut on the Musea label in 1995. I even liked their not-that-much-talked-about "Superb Birth" album from 2000. Patrik Lundström is a wonderful vocalist who also sang on the comeback album "Notes From The Past" from the Swedish progressive veterans KAIPA. "Think Like A Mountain" is RITUAL's third full-length album. RITUAL's music is complex and they tastefully blend acoustic and electric instruments. There are reminiscences to The FLOWER KINGS, GENTLE GIANT, JETHRO TULL, LED ZEPPELIN, YES, and influences from Swedish folk music. RITUAL has created a unique sound and actually they aren't comparable to any other band. To categorize them as progressive rock isn't entirely correct either. Some of the highlights are the opening track "What Are You Waiting For", "Humble Decision", "Once The Tree Would Bloom", the title track "Think Like A Mountain", "Moomin Took My Head" (they seem to be big admirers of the Moomin trolls as the first CD also contained a track inspired by Tove Jansson's characters) and "Infinite Justice". It's hard to talk about favorite tracks when the album is filled with great songs. So far RITUAL has never let me down. They're one of the best bands in Sweden regardless the genre and they deserves all the recognition they can get.
Review by Neu!mann
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Classifying this Swedish quartet as 'crossover prog' is like calling GENTLE GIANT 'prog related': rock music doesn't get much more proggy than Ritual. And the band's third studio album (in a ten-year span: these guys certainly aren't in the same overachieving league as their fellow Swede compatriots in THE FLOWER KINGS) is almost as good as their 1995 debut, showing the same strong melodic instincts and even more assertive musicianship.

In style the music ranges from lighthearted acoustic folk, often inspired by the children's fantasy literature of Tove Jansson (by way of GENTLE GIANT: see 'Moomin Took My Head'), to punchy electric Neo-Prog. This particular effort leans more toward the latter: thus the nervous Middle Eastern rhythms of the energetic album opener 'What Are You Waiting For', and the lush symphonic sweep of 'Humble Decision'. Adding real strings to 'Mother You've Been Gone Too Long' does nothing to compromise the song's evocative strength, and the 'Lark's Tongues in Aspic' power chords in the chorus of 'Infinite Justice' might have been borrowed from ANEKDOTEN, another thoroughbred in the crowded Swedish Prog Rock stable.

The album's only miscalculation is the plodding 'Explosive Paste', a song that unfortunately lives down to its clumsy title. At least the track is immediately followed by the more whimsical 'Once the Tree Would Bloom', in which the busy acoustic guitars, hand-held percussion, and ethnic woodwinds bring out the band's deep Scandinavian folk music roots, but without the expected northern latitude melancholy. And in the end the aptly titled 'Off' closes the album on a note of near ambient elegance, with a simple melody played on a single, muted synthesizer.

In summary: it's another outstanding effort from one of the hidden gems in the Prog Archives database, a band still waiting to be discovered by a lot of potential fans (judging from the relative scarcity of reviews so far: only 34 to date for their initial three albums, compared to 240 for the first three from the Flower Kings).

As the title of the album opener here says, What Are You Waiting For?

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars This is RITUAL's third studio album released in 2003. As others have mentioned the vocalist also sang on KAIPA's comeback album and the guy certainly can sing, the problem for me is that i'm not really a fan of his voice. Besides the usual instruments we get whistles, hammered dulcimer, bouzouki, recorders, violin, cello and more.

"What Are You Waiting For" sounds like World Music to start with some of those more obscure instruments.That changes quickly as bass, drums and guitar kick in then vocals. A calm 2 1/2 minutes in then back to that full sound. "Humble Decision" is mellow with vocals but it does get fuller as these contrasts continue. A violin solo comes in after 2 minutes. "Explosive Paste" is a top three tune for me as we get a fairly heavy sound here with vocals. Cool tune. "Once The Tree Would Bloom" features intricate sounds, vocals and a beat. Flute 3 minutes in. "Mother You've Been Gone For Much Too Long" opens with outbursts of sound as vocals come in. It settles back as the vocals continue. A change 3 minutes in as an intense instrumental section arrives. Strings 5 1/2 minutes in as it settles then that earlier soundscape returns.

"Think Like A Mountain" is another top three track.The vocals sound different here and I love the bass especially when the organ joins in around 3 minutes. "Mooman Took My Head" is one I can't get into at all.The piano and vocals are the focus early on. "Infinite Justice" is the final top three song for me. I just like how heavy it is, but that is contrasted with the lighter sections throughout. "On" is a World Music flavoured instrumental. "Shamanarama" kics in quickly with vocals. It's not bad. "Breathing" is mellow with reserved vocals. It's fuller a minute in as contrasts continue. "Off" is a short mellow piece to end the album.

I would think the majority of Prog fans would find lots to like here.

Latest members reviews

3 stars Basically a nightmare to review! There's alot going on. A lot of creativity, some interesting rhythms, which ultimately tend to dominate proceedings, the usual Swedish eccentricity, and all of which is within the confines of Ritual's sound! Where it fails, is that no thought appears to hav ... (read more)

Report this review (#756035) | Posted by sussexbowler | Monday, May 21, 2012 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I found this band just thanks to the 21st century lineup of the swedish legends Kaipa. As people may know, Patrick Lundstrom, voice, guitar and soul of Ritual also sings in Kaipa. If you listen to his voice maybe you will understand why I use the word soul. Think Like A Mountain is their third a ... (read more)

Report this review (#308874) | Posted by migue091 | Monday, November 8, 2010 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Sweden is definitely a country of real prog-talents. R emarkable I nspiring T remendous U nique A wesome L uminous If there had been no Kaipa with Patrick Lundstrom on vocals, I would have never found out about Ritual. Yeah, to my shame, only after having listened to Kaipa (with ... (read more)

Report this review (#160505) | Posted by Paper Champion | Friday, February 1, 2008 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Now..imagine a band....from the north (they´re swede´s)..... unite the sound of Led Zep (at their most acoustic)..then add some Dream theater.... plus some original swedish prog.!! There you have it: Ritual !!! This is a GREAT album...with every thing a progfan could ask for....... great songs. ... (read more)

Report this review (#17624) | Posted by Tonny Larz | Friday, January 9, 2004 | Review Permanlink

Post a review of RITUAL "Think Like a Mountain"

You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.