Fretplay.com Testament CD reviews Testament guitar tabs Testament CD reviews Testament tabs The Ritual


Testament - The Ritual Audio CD

A fair review of the Testament "The Ritual" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Testament reviews here, or go back to the Testament tabs.

Testament Band: Testament
Title: The Ritual
Rating:
Release Date: 1992-05-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Signs of Chaos 2: Electric Crown 3: So Many Lies 4: Let Go of My World 5: Ritual 6: Deadline 7: As the Seasons Grey 8: Agony 9: Sermon 10: Return to Serenity 11: Troubled Dreams

Ritual Review
Additionally, I read a review stating that this was Testament's most melodic and non-thrash album of all their studio work. I bought this album because I love the song "Electric Crown". The statement is verifiable upon listening to it and Skolnick's lead work is searing on this one. However, the album lacks something and what that something is I'm not quite sure. Put it this way, I wouldn't replace it if I were to lose my current copy of the album.


Testament - doing what they do best.


The album also sees the band changing their sound a little bit, slowing the tempo down. Where the previous album, "Souls of Black" was a little bit rushed and poorly produced, The Ritual put the band Testament back in form at the level of their previous album. Return to Serenity is much like Testament's version of the Clansman (or maybe the other way around as it came first) and is an awesome song with great guitar work, Electric Crown is the band's version of You've Got Another Coming, songs like So Many Lies and The Ritual show the band experiementing with slower but still heavy sounds.

Only downside is nothing on this album is as fast as the pace of the previous four albums.


just something I can't name
Perhaps I'm not a thrash metal fan after all, but I still marvel at some of the moments on this admittedly slower album by my favorite metal band of all time. The Ritual seems to be the album that really bums out Testament fans and thrash fans. Skolnick wrote a good portion of this album in major keys -- avoiding the typical minors that dominated metal of the time. The time signatures also slowed down, mostly due to his interest in complexity and layering. But it's hard for me to find things wrong with ELECTRIC CROWN, SO MANY LIES, THE RITUAL, DEADLINE, TROUBLE DREAMS, and the perfection of RETURN TO SERENITY, which includes the greatest solo Skolnick composed for the band.

The filler has become more obvious to me over the years (The Sermon & Agony come to mind), but the heights they reached at a crucial point in their career impress me still. Don't listen to this and think it's the best example of Testament's work -- just appreciate what a band capable of true thrash can do when they slow it down a bit. .


1992-The Year Thrash Metal Died
I am not talking about the birth of Grunge, because that didnt really bury Metal, it just took Metal to new horizons with bands such as SoundGarden, Nivana, and Pearl Jam. 1992 was a tough year to swallow for Metal Fans. What really killed great Thrash Bands was the rise of Hair Metal which really took off in 1991 and was still hanging on by a thread in 1992. Even though not all bands crossed over to that sound, most of the great Thrash Metal acts of the 1980's such as Metallica, Overkill, Exodus, Megadeth, and Anthrax were either left for dead or released albums that were sub-par to their earlier works, as it seemed these bands, all on major label, were trying to cross over into the pop metal world. Testament was another that fell victim to these time period, and the god awful "The Ritual" doesnt even deserve to have the Testamens name on it. This album is a joke folks. From the first track, you swear that you were listening to Winger or White Lion with weak lyrical content and music that was dreadful slow and very forgettable. The only two tracks on the album that even have an edge to them are the title track, even though its slow, it is downtuned enough to give Testament some rawness here, and "Agony" The rest is just garbage, and boy can we tell that the record company influenced Testament to release this garbage of an album. It was bad enough that Metallica' Black Album and Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction were lacking the fericoty of the bands older material, but this album is a joke. I am glad that this was the only stinkbomb the band made, and they were able to put this garbage behind them. Avoid this one at all cost. Get anything from Testament but this.


What happened???
What we see here is a cd devoid of any emotion and trapped in a time where the band felt neglected and unappreciated in its own scene. I had not been listening to testament for long, but this cd was such a let down from souls. This is the one and only time Testament tried to apeal to the general masses. My first listen to a video, electric crown and I was like wow this is interesting between all the grundge coming out but when the face of testament was behind this music it felt so uninspiring compared to their usual work. Many fans claim that return to serinity was a great song, I call blasphamy. . . listen to the legacy and find where the heart and soul is. This is by far the most disappointting LP that testament has ever released. Go buy the gathering and feel where the band should be.


You can see a complete list of all Testament discography, or go back to the Testament tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]