Testament - The Ritual (1992)

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Testament - The Ritual (1992)

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The beginning of the 1990s was a very difficult time to play thrash metal. Death and black was coming into being from the hellish abyss, from the other side – grunge/alternative. So as many bands Testament stood at the cross-roads. After four pure thrash albums they decided to change their music a bit by adding some heavy metal/hard rock influences to song structures. I don’t want to say it was a concious choice or not. The most important thing is: did Testament record a good album?

At the first sight – excellent front cover, but in this case Testament never disappointed. The first listening to “The Ritual” … and complete shock, not for me only, for the rest of fans too!!! Monstrous, coherent compositions with large intensification of melodies (not only riffs and guitar solos, but also Billy’s vocals). Generally, tempo of the songs was slow down (beside “Agony”), what born a title song of the album, which was never played in that way by a thrash band before. The musicians had placed a good ballad (“Return To Serenity”), which became a hit in radio stations. Vocals of Chuck Billy notched up a masterful level. Alex Skolnick proved he is one of the best metal guitarist. A good production permitted to perceive an artistry of bass and drums works.

Except for an intro “Signs Of Chaos” which is, in fact, some nice chaotic lead by Skolnick, Testament prepared ten metal (!) songs from which several are really splendid compositions. The most known I think is “Electric Crown” with great riffs, very interesting guitar addings and two excellent guitar solos. And then, the next liveshow-killer entitled “So Many Lies”, after ultra heavy beginning (great guitars work and drum cavalcade) turns to majestic slow song with consecutive outstanding solo. But the real pearl is title track “The Ritual”. The longest one so far, complete something-new in Testament’s output. It paralyzes by its own atmosphere, majesty, the skill of creating of the tension. And again – amazing Billy vocals, superb solo shows, excellent works of bass/drums. It is a perfect incidental music for example for Lovecraft’s story “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. The last track I want to focus on is “As The Seasons Grey” – never played (I think) during official liveshows. Totally wonderful opening guitar lead with interesting drumwork turns to heavy, almost doom riff, after few seconds it becomes faster heavy thrash composition with extraordinary guitar solo which is something usual on this album.

To put it briefly, the band showed heavy thrash album, which was complete surprise for me and the rest of fans, but it is a great advantage. “The Ritual” is a masterpiece of metal music and I compare it to the best thrash metal albums ever “The Legacy”/”The New Order”. The sad thing is “The Ritual” is the last album with Alex Skolnick and his mighty and powerful guitars. Unfortunately, nobody was able to replace him worthily. Alex returned to his band to record some old songs (2001, “First Strike Still Deadly) and new stuff (2008, “The Formation Of Damnation”), but this is complete different story…

By Tlacaxipehualiztli

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Testament - The Ritual (1992)

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Testament - The Ritual (1992)

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