Best Thrash Metal album I've heard in a long time
Aniruddh Bansal | Los Angeles,CA USA | 03/10/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yes! The review title says it! Mantic Ritual are the best young thrash band in my opinion. They are clearly inspired by old school thrash. Every song is fast and brutal, but songs like One By One, Murdered To Death and Next Attack also have their slower, more intricate parts which shows that this band has talent, and not just raw speed. I hope they give us many more albums in the coming years. Stay metal \m/"
For those who have Meltdown's "Executioner"...
SabbyDiamond | Arcata, CA | 03/10/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"MANTIC RITUAL is formerly Meltdown, and they have released this exact album before as that band (with the exception of one song) and I can honestly say this remake is well worth the purchase. The tracks have been updated and the songs are harder, faster, and more aggressive. It's louder too (which is always a good thing). With this update, Mantic Ritual has solidified itself as one of the greatest thrash/speed bands this decade has to offer (right there with Skeletonwitch and Black Tide). These boys are a force to be reckoned with and if you HAVEN'T heard Mantic Ritual yet I highly recommend it. They are original, catchy, and impressively technical. My only complaint is upon the first few listens, it's difficult to tell which songs are which, but after many run-throughs (and you will have many-do not resist) you will know every solo and every riff as if they were tattooed into your brain.
If you want to see why thrash is making a "comeback", look no further. These guys are the perfect band to display to never ending spirit of true thrash. Listen and break some bones. You'll thank me later."
Well let's be objective....
Eric H | Chicagoland | 07/31/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I saw this band in March when me and a chum went to a Destruction concert (look 'em up). Mantic Ritual played, and I was impressed enough to buy the album later on while perusing through a music store's wares.
Anyway, I think this a decent example of thrash metal, especially the apparent revival it's enjoying. But I do now think that I bought this album mainly due to the post-concert high I was on after seeing a good band kick some ass musically.
It's good. But it's not amazing. Okay, it is fast, aggressive, and loud like EVERY OTHER METAL BAND IN EXISTENCE. Mantic Ritual is just the typical. The usual. The mediocre. It's different to most people, but the experienced metal fan will not think anything new of it. Each song trudges on for a longer then necessary, like a certain American War I will not explicitly name. And the leads, while competent and good, aren't anything to get hard over. If you have heard one of their solos, then you have efficiently recieved a window into all of them. Not one song really stuck out, every once in a while a riff would pass by that was inspired and good, but they didn't last long enough to get a good vibe going. It was mostly just generic thrash metal. Sixteenth note riffs and shreddy leads. They did absolutely nothing to blow my mind or separate themselves musically from other thrash metal bands: Fast riffs, songs about killing people and violence, about how much the world sucks, and so forth. Haven't I heard this sort of thing before? Yes, in EVERY SINGLE THRASH METAL BAND IN EXISTENCE, some of whom are close to thirty years old.
My point is that this band is really "blegh". It's average. I love metal music, more so then most. But I will be fair when I say that not every metal band is amazing. Mantic Ritual is an example of what I guess you could call "middle child" syndrome. It's good enough to not be terrible but not good enough to be great. So the response it recieves is one of unrelenting apathy.
I don't hate it. But neither do I love it. I can recommend this band if you are a die hard metalhead who will worship any band that falls into the genre you love the most. Otherwise, you can find a more extraordinary band.
Bottom Line: Meh, it's a toss-up. Only for the uninitiated."
