The Ritual CD

Excellent album

Like many other listeners, my initial reaction to Testament's 'dumbing down' was one of shock and confusion,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/alternativeThough the song structures are pretty simplistic, with only a few central guitar progressions slathered in great leads and vocals, there isn't a single riff throughout that feels unnecessary or out of place. Greg Christian's bass tone is not so prevalent as Practice What You Preach, but more a flood of depth that anchors the muscular rhythm guitar. Louie Clemente's drums are pure hard rock, slight in technicality but long on power.As usual, the leads are very well prepared by Skolnick, peaking through the beautiful escalation of "As the Seasons Grey", but suitably shredding and acrobatic even on the intro "Signs of Chaos" or the swaggering rise and fall of "So Many Lies".Lyrically, this is probably the most personal of the Californians' works, and they deal with a lot of topics like loss, betrayal, and personal freedom. Again, we're not dealing with much complexity in their craft, but thanks to Chuck's infallible, inflection,BEST TRACKS: Electric Crown, The Sermon, Agony and of course the amazing melodic ballad Return to Serenity

Love the old and new stuff by them. Still going strong

I bought this album basically because I heard "Electric Crown" and loved it. The rest of the album is just as strong. Testament has a heavy, powerful sound that should appeal fans of bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, etc. Though Testament doesn't have quite the speed and energy of these bands, their music is still fast enough that it avoids the super-slow death metal grind.Testament seems to have a winning formula on this album, and they don't deviate too far from it for the duration of the cd. However, they mix up their riffs, rhythm, and lyrics enough to keep things from getting monotonous. They sound a lot like Metallica, but Testament favors a slightly slower wall of sound approach compared to Metallica's fast, staccato rhythms. One of Testament's is an intense, angry-sounding singer that will remind most people of James Hetfield of Metallica (Black Album and earlier...).I am definitely going to be buying more Testament albums in the future.Strongest tracks:Signs of Chaos(intro) -> Electric CrownDeadlineStrong tracks:So Many LiesThe Ritual (think Phantom Stranger by Rob Zombie)Let Go of my WorldAs the Seasons GreyReturn to Serenity (a slow ballad that won't kill you slowly!)Weak tracks:the rest of the album is still pretty goodSummary: Testament is great thrash(ish?) metal. Though they incorporate many of Metallica's strengths into their own sound, they aren't just ripping them off.

this is a cd that any metal fan thats into true metal should have. i bought this album on casette when it came out back in 92 i was 16 then .. later i kept buying it tape after tape till finally i got it on cd and its been spining in my cd player since non stop this is smething that i know that ill never stop playing .. on the 16th march my life dream to watch testament live came true in dubai, long life true metal

I thought it was Good..