Ritual Tension, an American experimental rock band, was formed in 1983 in New York City. The group was founded by brothers Ivan and Andrew Nahem, who had previously played together in a band called Crop in San Francisco. Ritual Tension's first live performance as Tension occurred at the Speed Trials music festival at White Columns on May 5, 1983. Their debut album, I Live Here, was released in 1986 by Sacrifice Records and featured the signature song "The Grind". The band gained popularity in the East Village scene, playing clubs like CBGB, where they recorded their album The Blood of the Kid. Ritual Tension released two more albums, such as the EP Hotel California (1987) and Expelled (1989), before disbanding in 1990. They reunited in 2018 and released a new album entitled It's Just the Apocalypse, It's Not the End in 2020. Ritual Tension, featuring Ivan, Marc, and Michael, performed at the Downtown Music Gallery in Manhattan on October 3, 2023.
