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Been following the thread by @Van Horne (which is killer, thanks man), and wanted to offer something a little different.
We all know music is powerful, but I think a lot of people miss that music is magic, not just when it’s full of dark aesthetics or esoteric lyrics, but in the way it works on us.
Music can be a ritual. It creates altered states, fractures time, draws you into inner silence, or forces you into your body. Whether the artist intended it or not, certain songs act like spells. Some are invitations. Some are initiations. Some are outright banishings.
I’m not a professional musician, but I’ve got an ear, and I’ve spent enough time on both sides of ritual to know when a song moves current. Not just makes you feel, actually moves the needle inside you. Also, my ADHD is highly focused on music and patterns. I see how music affects us deeply.
If there’s interest, I’ll start picking tracks (some obvious, some not at all) and explain why I think they’re ritual in sound, from the arrangement, structure, tonal choices, to the emotional architecture.
First up: “Return to Serenity” by Testament
What makes this song work:
It opens with a lead guitar phrase that plays like memory. The high-low-high interval leap gives it this aching sweetness, like something is reaching down to pull you into a moment that’s already slipping away. It's not just melancholy, it’s a kind of sonic visitation. The tone is clean but mournful, almost tender. There’s warmth in the sadness, which is what makes it dangerous. It lures you in.
Then the guitar and bass walk down together, which is rare, but deliberate, like they’re descending (or stumbling down a staircase) into the subconscious. There’s no resolution. No payoff. You’re just there, standing in the space it carved open.
The whole thing feels like a ritual built around stillness and grief. Not performative grief, but private. Internal. Like the song isn't asking you to feel anything, but it reminds you of something you already carry.
The musical arrangement was masterful in this song. They knew exactly what they were doing. Clean guitars for the intro. Clean bass. Typical crunching rhythm guitars. Outstanding solo that didnt overplay the song (Alex Skolnick is way better than the band musically). Nothing was accidental here. It was all deliberate.
The engineering and production were mid at best. The song was a high level orchestration and it was produced with a flat production and engineering perspective. Kick drums were flat, toms were hollow. Bass was there, but barely. Just narrow. It could have used layers. Everything produced "upfront" challenged the song in my opinion. Still great for what it was, when it was written and produced in the early 90s with the grunge era moving in (probably why less money was spent on engineering and production).
If you’ve got songs like that, not just that sound cool, but that do something regardless if style or genre, bring ‘em. And tell me why. Lets talk about it. Hell, any song will do actually.
Let’s make this thread a playlist and a spellbook.
We all know music is powerful, but I think a lot of people miss that music is magic, not just when it’s full of dark aesthetics or esoteric lyrics, but in the way it works on us.
Music can be a ritual. It creates altered states, fractures time, draws you into inner silence, or forces you into your body. Whether the artist intended it or not, certain songs act like spells. Some are invitations. Some are initiations. Some are outright banishings.
I’m not a professional musician, but I’ve got an ear, and I’ve spent enough time on both sides of ritual to know when a song moves current. Not just makes you feel, actually moves the needle inside you. Also, my ADHD is highly focused on music and patterns. I see how music affects us deeply.
If there’s interest, I’ll start picking tracks (some obvious, some not at all) and explain why I think they’re ritual in sound, from the arrangement, structure, tonal choices, to the emotional architecture.
First up: “Return to Serenity” by Testament
What makes this song work:
It opens with a lead guitar phrase that plays like memory. The high-low-high interval leap gives it this aching sweetness, like something is reaching down to pull you into a moment that’s already slipping away. It's not just melancholy, it’s a kind of sonic visitation. The tone is clean but mournful, almost tender. There’s warmth in the sadness, which is what makes it dangerous. It lures you in.
Then the guitar and bass walk down together, which is rare, but deliberate, like they’re descending (or stumbling down a staircase) into the subconscious. There’s no resolution. No payoff. You’re just there, standing in the space it carved open.
The whole thing feels like a ritual built around stillness and grief. Not performative grief, but private. Internal. Like the song isn't asking you to feel anything, but it reminds you of something you already carry.
The musical arrangement was masterful in this song. They knew exactly what they were doing. Clean guitars for the intro. Clean bass. Typical crunching rhythm guitars. Outstanding solo that didnt overplay the song (Alex Skolnick is way better than the band musically). Nothing was accidental here. It was all deliberate.
The engineering and production were mid at best. The song was a high level orchestration and it was produced with a flat production and engineering perspective. Kick drums were flat, toms were hollow. Bass was there, but barely. Just narrow. It could have used layers. Everything produced "upfront" challenged the song in my opinion. Still great for what it was, when it was written and produced in the early 90s with the grunge era moving in (probably why less money was spent on engineering and production).
If you’ve got songs like that, not just that sound cool, but that do something regardless if style or genre, bring ‘em. And tell me why. Lets talk about it. Hell, any song will do actually.
Let’s make this thread a playlist and a spellbook.
