15, 2018. The band came together again and played shows in 2018 and 2019, in New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Andrew did not re-join on guitar, however Marc Sloan expanded his role with an overall more bass heavy approach. They began recording in Rehobeth Beach, DE at Cubano Enfuego Studios, and then moved to Deepsea Studio in Hoboken, to work with friend and engineer Mark C (of Live Skull). Emilio Zef China, who plays with Peter Murphy, played violin and guitar on two tracks. The album It's Just the Apocalypse, It's Not the End was released on July 28, 2020 on Arguably Records. The album includes seven original songs and two covers: Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix and Shakin' Street by the MC5. A record release event was scuttled due to Covid, and as of late 2021 the band is in discussions regarding a return to performance. Reception Ritual Tension's releases were critically acclaimed, mostly in fanzines but also in more mainstream press, although critics had a hard time categorizing the band. In Spin, Andrea 'Enthal wrote: "Then there are the bands who aren't part of any movement. They are the leading edge of the underground... Ritual Tension make noncommercial music outside of even punk's accepted norms. It takes some listening to figure out how to hear their sound". Robert Palmer wrote in the New York Times: "The rhythm section is fluid but packs a punch, and Andrew Nahem's guitar work is distinctive and full of energy." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said: "'Here' is the Lower East Side… Surprisingly, this parochial approach is good for music more intense and universal than, to choose the relevant example, the Bush Tetras' 'Too Many Creeps'". Trouser Press said: "Recorded in 1988, the excellently self-produced Expelled is the finest display yet of the band's offbeat musicianship. The dissonance is so vibrantly arranged and performed that it actually becomes catchy". It's Just the Apocalypse, It's Not the End also achieved some recognition. Rich Quinlan of Jersey Beat wrote: "Ritual Tension is a band with its roots firmly planted in the punk, no-wave, and noise scenes of the very late 1970s in San Francisco before moving to NYC in the early 1980s… Now, thirty years after their final performance, Ritual Tension has returned, this time sans Andrew, as a trio on the experimental and wonderfully noisy It’s Just the Apocalypse, It’s Not the End.