Well, "The Ritual" is no Thrash. All fans, who think that "The Legacy" is the only legitimate TESTAMENT-album can go back and read a different review. A certain similarity to the big breakthrough-album of their Bay-Area-colleagues without a doubt is there, Chuck Billy really sings and also in terms of heaviness they are pretty close, but to talk about a bad copy, as some have, is too much, because this album is really good! But no Thrash...

After the intro "Signs Of Chaos" follows the song that had been my first contact with this album,, thanks to a video on MTV. "Electric Crown" is a straight song with a good melody-line, some sort of traditional Metal, but neither the European way nor sounding like bands like HELSTAR or ARMORED SAINT, but different somehow, well, OK, let's take METALLICA, but still different. Alex Skolnick's guitar-work is brilliant, so let's just say that "Electric Crown" is a damn good Metal-song. Period.

The rest, too, is absolutely OK, "Let Go Of My World", "Sermon" or the excellent ballad "Return To Serenity" are good examples for that, although I have to admit that not all songs can keep this level, but that might rather be my personal taste in music than the real quality of the tracks...

So no matter what the Die-Hard-Thrashers are trying to tell you, "The Ritual" is a really good album, which just as one "mistake": It doesn't sound as TESTAMENT usually sound...