Fire! Orchestra may be one of the younger units on the European improvising big-band scene, but they are one of the most compelling and diverse. They employ not only brass and rhythm instruments, but electric guitars, voices, and electronics in their substantive explorations. On their three previous offerings, their membership fluctuated from 18-28 members who were primarily Swedish in origin. Ritual features 21 members from all over Europe. The principals remain the founding Fire! trio -- Mats Gustafsson (saxophones), Johan Berthling (bass), and Andreas Werliin (drums) -- with some longtime members including vocalists Sofia Jernberg and Mariam Wallentin, and horn players Niklas Barnö, Jonas Kullhammar, Mats Äleklint, Per Åke Holmlander, and Anna Högberg. Ritual is the most conceptual and ambitious date the group has released. The sung texts are drawn from Erik Lundgren’s -Mannen Utan Väg (translated into English) and some lyrics by Gustafsson. The music, delivered in five parts, is demanding, full of twists and turns, dissonance, shapeshifting time signatures, tonal clusters, and instrumental textures. Styles dovetail and clash with one another. Jazz, avant-garde, prog, post-psychedelic rock, and more appear and disappear with astonishing regularity, all governed by an intense, unflagging energy by ensemble and soloists.

1		Ritual, Pt. 1
2		Ritual, Pt. 2
3		Ritual, Pt. 3
4		Ritual, Pt. 4
5		Ritual, Pt. 5