The last song Ritual Bronze wrote for their debut started as homework from the drummer. Mike Wyant sent the band twelve separate videos of himself playing different drum parts. Guitarist Bob Adams picked his favorite and rebuilt it into something else entirely. “It still had the same intensity but was now more dynamic,” he says. “The record was now written.” That track is “Tortured Artist,” premiering today on IDIOTEQ.
The Cleveland, Ohio post-hardcore band formed in the isolation of South Amherst, with Ryan Hardwick (Last Gasp) on vocals alongside Adams on guitar, Justin Scardami, Wyant, and Seth Hansen. Their self-titled debut lands June 12 via Steadfast Records and Sweet Cheetah Records.
The record works the quiet/loud dynamic of early-millennium emo and post-hardcore, with On the Might of Princes, The Casket Lottery, and The Appleseed Cast as obvious touchstones.
It deals with addiction, heartbreak, the strange business of aging out of punk rock, and the unease of watching the world reshape around you.
“Tortured Artist” pulls straight from that last thread. Hardwick wrote the words about his own run as a DIY musician.
“Tortured Artist’s lyrical theme was written about the roller coaster life I’ve lived as a DIY musician. I’ve been playing in bands now longer than I haven’t,” he says.
“The lyrics touch on the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the build up to let down… I’m grateful for all the experience, I’ve made a lot of friends and I’ve made a few enemies. I wouldn’t change it for the world (well maybe a few things) but I guess that overall it hasn’t made my life any easier. Still I’m grateful, it’s in my blood.”
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The band reaches for a line from Kurt Cobain to put it plainly: “Punk rock should mean freedom, liking and accepting anything that you like. Playing whatever you want, as sloppy as you want, as long as it’s good and it has passion.”
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“Tortured Artist” follows the video for “Memories Lodged In The Nervous System,” which premiered via No Echo and was made with Andy Wells of Endnote Records.
The album is up for preorder now. Three regional shows are booked around the release:
June 12, 2026, The 5 O’Clock Lounge, Cleveland, Ohio
June 13, 2026, Remedy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
June 20, 2026, Mahall’s, Cleveland, Ohio
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