Mantic Ritual

"A place for everything and everything in its place" — such a simple rule that Mantic Ritual adhere to, with incredible results. From downbeat chug riffs to shit-hot solos and head-smashing verses, Executioner is the Feng Shui of modern thrash. The album boasts similarities to Municipal Waste's take on Nuclear Assault-meets-D.R.I., with touches of Exodus's Fabulous Disaster to be found in the metre/general approach. It's clearly the result of rediscovering what made the Bay Area so great in the '80s, yet instead of simply regurgitating those aspects Mantic Ritual have found a way to innovate on enough elements to forge their own angle. Most impressive though is how seriously the band take their raging. Eliminating the cartoon-ish party atmosphere, yet not going so far as to become dreary, the majority of Executioner is an upbeat blast of cutting aggression, riding the fine line between onslaught and overbearing. Expedient and foreboding without overindulging in technicality or mood, this is a supreme debut.