Swedish prog quartet Ritual will release their first new album for 17 years when they issue The Story Of Mr. Bogd Part 1 through Karisma Records on August 16.
It's the band's sixth full-length album and follows on from 2007's The Hemulic Voluntary Band and has been preceded by a new single, Chichikov Bogd, which you can listen to below.
"What is Chichikov Bogd?" the band ask. "Well, that's the name of the protagonist in Ritual's upcoming musical epic The Story of Mr. Bogd, Part 1. It is also the name of one of the songs on the album, and tells a bit about the main character's background. The song was previously released on the 2020 EP Glimpses but here it comes in a thunderous, remixed and remastered single version. Mr. Bogd has arrived!"
The new album is a concept affair, telling the story of the well-to-do titular character who, realising he is leading an unsatisfactory life, turns his back on all he knows. In short, a story about forsaking what we know, what is safe, and what is all mapped out, in favour of an ideal of what constitutes the natural world.
The Story Of Mr. Bogd Part 1 will be available on CD, limited edition transparent violet vinyl and digital formats. You can view the new album artwork and tracklisting below.
Pre-order The Story Of Mr. Bogd Part 1.
Ritual: The Story Of Mr. Bogd Part 1
1. A Hasty Departure
2. The Inn of the Haunted Owl
3. Dreams in a Brougham
4. Chichikov Bogd
5. Mr. Tilly And His Gang
6. Through a Rural Landscape
7. The Feline Companion
8. Read All About It!
9. Forgotten Qualities
10. The Three Heads Of The Well
