TESTAMENT - The Ritual

[tedvanfrehley]

Holy crap this cd kicks ass. The mighty Sixxswine hooked me up with a copy and I just got to listen to it in its entireity today. Smokin' ! This is now my favorite album by the band and may be hard to get outta the cd player for a while. Something had to knock out the Puppetmaster, though.

 

[DrillSergeant]

Interesting! Really interesting as that was the disc that made me lose Testament out of sight. I remember that I basically liked it but obviously not enough to get the following albums. I guess, it's just the same as with my disapproval of John Bush joining Anthrax. I didn't want Skolnick to leave. Fortunately I re-discovered both bands recently. The second reason for my fading interest was that the whole Bay Area apparently suffered from the Metalli-sease. Megadeth, Testament, Exodus, Anthrax, Sacred Reich... everybody seemed to join the bandwaggon jumping, slowed down and tried to write groovy songs.
Anyway, Testament kick butt big time, no matter which album you prefer.

 

[baldyboy]

sorry ted,i'm with sarge-the ritual was ok,but any of the preceeding albums were better imo.glad you like it though-have you got all thier other stuff?some of it is just amazing.i think i've bored everyone on the site rigid with my views on the gathering and first strike still deadly,but if you liked the ritual and havnt heard them,then you must!

 

[delize]

I like the Ritual too, but The Gathering is my favorite.

 

[Psychonaut]

The Ritual is good but it really doesn't sound like Testament. It would be a great album if done by anyone else but it kinda drags down the Testament legacy. Don't get me wrong, it's good but listening to albums like Souls Of Black, Demonic, and The Gathering gives you a better feel for the band.

 

[tedvanfrehley]

hmmm, well, maybe I should track down the earlier albums. I do have THE NEW ORDER and used to have Practice What You Preach, so those are the two I'm comparing it to. I still say it's awesome. But maybe I'll track down the other Testament discs...FIRST STRIKE IS STILL DEADLY may be the way to go? To hear a little of everything????

 

[Officer Nice]

Interesting! Really interesting as that was the disc that made me lose Testament out of sight. I remember that I basically liked it but obviously not enough to get the following albums. I guess, it's just the same as with my disapproval of John Bush joining Anthrax. I didn't want Skolnick to leave. Fortunately I re-discovered both bands recently. The second reason for my fading interest was that the whole Bay Area apparently suffered from the Metalli-sease. Megadeth, Testament, Exodus, Anthrax, Sacred Reich... everybody seemed to join the bandwaggon jumping, slowed down and tried to write groovy songs.
Anyway, Testament kick butt big time, no matter which album you prefer.

IMO, The Ritual is a great record. It's still heavier than anything Metallica did
in the 90's. Slowing down was really the only way metal could survive in the
mid nineties. The whole scene was in bad shape and since labels weren't
doing much for metal, it was just a matter of survival. SR's Independant
was not a bad record, it was very riff heavy. It's no Ignorance, but the scene
wouldnt accomidate Ignorance part 2 when Independant came out.
Independant did help their career some. Metal was just drying up.
Which Exodus disc are you talking about? Force of Habit? There was some
heavy stuff on that disc....I didnt get their Rolling Stones cover of "Bitch"
though. Testaments decision to slow down was more Skolnick and Clemente
than anything Skol wasn't intrested in doing more thrash. It's one of the
reasons why he left Testament. Anthrax slowed down because Scott Ian
wanted to be rich like Metallica. Pure and Simple.

 

[sixxswine]

I liked the Ritual disc. It was however, their least thrash metal record. I guess it's safe to say that at that point the band was going for the Metallica Black record success thing. It's still a much better effort than Souls of Black.

 

[SpiritCrusherBTR]

Ah, to be honest this is one album I don't own, but I really do love everything I own from Testament. I saw them last year at the final Metal Gods show in NYC and they stole the show...just fucking rocked the place. Anyway, I want some new material from these guys. "First Strike Still Deadly" is very cool to hear these new, more intense versions of classics, but I'm dying for a new studio album.

 

[DrillSergeant]

IMO, The Ritual is a great record. ...SR's Independant was not a bad record, it was very riff heavy. ...Which Exodus disc are you talking about? ...Anthrax slowed down because Scott Ian wanted to be rich like Metallica.

I never said it's a bad record! All I wanted to say is that it's my least favourite from the Testament disco. The other stuff I was refering to was Countdown To Extinction (Megadeth), Force Of Habbit (Exodus), Independent (Sacred Reich) and the lineup change by Anthrax. Wasn't it the same with Over Kill's I Hear Black? I've never heard that one but from what I know about it they slowed down as well. Anyway, all I want to say is that I just couldn't understand those changes in many cases. Take Megadeth and Sacred Reich for example - with Rust In Peace and The American Way they had their finest hours so why would one want to change that? Or take a look at Testament. You can hardly argue that the much heavier The Gathering and The Legacy are totally superoir over The Ritual. You may also compare 80s Anthrax with early to mid-90s Anthrax.

 

[Officer Nice]

I never said it's a bad record! All I wanted to say is that it's my least favourite from the Testament disco.

I know.

Anyway, all I want to say is that I just couldn't understand those changes in many cases. Take Megadeth and Sacred Reich for example - with Rust In Peace and The American Way they had their finest hours so why would one want to change that?

I'd say, the record labels. If a heavy record does well, they want to soften
it up for the masses so it can sell lots more. e.g. Metallica.

Or take a look at Testament. You can hardly argue that the much heavier The Gathering and The Legacy are totally superoir over The Ritual. You may also compare 80s Anthrax with early to mid-90s Anthrax.

You said Gathering and Legacy. I'd also include New Order,Souls,Practice,
Low and Demonic. They're all heavier than Ritual. I won't argue. You are
right. Anthrax? I think anything they do with John Bush is bollocks and
I wish Scott Ian would bugger off.

 

[DrillSergeant]

You said Gathering and Legacy. I'd also include New Order,Souls,Practice, Low and Demonic.

Sure, those were just examples. My fault if that was misunderstandable.

Anthrax? I think anything they do with John Bush is bollocks and I wish Scott Ian would bugger off.

That's exactly what I thought when I learned about Joey being kicked out. I didn't like the Only single and therefore considered Anthrax as dead as far as they concerned my collection. But just recently I got myself some info from the Anthrax board and was told to check out We've Come For You All. And so I did. Well, I have to admit that this album really smokes! It has a great diversity and shows how modern Metal should sound like. They caught me completely off-guard and I was totally blown away by its quality. You just mustn't make the mistake and compare it to the old Thrax. It's really like two different bands.
As for Ian I totally agree. He does some kind of gossip column in the German edition of the (Metal) Hammer called "mail from Scott Ian" and regularly makes an ass out of himself by that. Man, that guy is dumb as bread! As is Charlie.

 

[schindlers_fist]

I like some of the songs on it, but its sort of boring, thank god they came out with low aftarwards.

 

[ScaryGuy]

IMO, The Ritual is a great record. It's still heavier than anything Metallica did
in the 90's. Slowing down was really the only way metal could survive in the
mid nineties. The whole scene was in bad shape and since labels weren't
doing much for metal, it was just a matter of survival.

Testament released 'The Ritual' in 1992 and then Schlonik and Clemente left the band. Following that Testament released 'Low' in 1994 and so were doing the opposite of what most of the metal bands were doing in the mid-nineties and speeding back up and getting far more aggressive. The two albums to follow 'Demonic' in 1997 and 'The Gathering' in 1999 were truly sick. Lets hope the new album in June will carry on the sound they crafted on 'The Gathering'.

 

[The saYer]

its really not buyable matl. for me, but hey!, its testament!

 

[DrillSergeant]

matl.

Sorry, but I didn't get that. What does "matl." mean? I know, I should do something about my English...

 

[TheGraveDigger]

The Ritual is a good album but not one of my favorites. It does have it's moments however and I love "Electric Crown". My favorite albums from Testament are The Legacy, The New Order, Practice What You Preach, and The Gathering. First Strike Still Deadly is awesome too. I saw them live last year on the Metal Gods tour and they just fucking ruled beyond belief. They are working on a new album now I believe that should be out late this summer or in the fall.

 

[Evil Ernie]

I can't get through The Ritual in a single listen, I get bored. Electric Crown and So Many Lies are among there best songs, but some others kinda suck.

Indeed Legacy, NWO, FSSD and The Gathering really kick some serious ass.

 

[Officer Nice]

Testament released 'The Ritual' in 1992 and then Schlonik and Clemente left the band. Following that Testament released 'Low' in 1994 and so were doing the opposite of what most of the metal bands were doing in the mid-nineties and speeding back up and getting far more aggressive. The two albums to follow 'Demonic' in 1997 and 'The Gathering' in 1999 were truly sick. Lets hope the new album in June will carry on the sound they crafted on 'The Gathering'.

Don't expect the album out in June. Testament is saying the record label
is wrong. The album has not been recorded yet. It's only been written.
For the record to come out in June, they'd have to have it recorded, mixed
and master by the end of March.