Mantic Ritual - Heart set Stone

*****

A killer crossover album!!!

As Vinnie Paul said "Hell yeah!!!", this is more like it Thrash / Punk Metal crossover EP 'Heart set Stone'. And the EP has a GBH cover thrown in (or should I say a Charged GBH as they were called when they originally released that track).. What more can you ask for, killer EP cover art. Well they have that as well. I think it's time to crank the volume up, and annoy my neighbours. Thrash seems to be in the news all over again thanks to the Netflix series 'Stranger Things' and their coverage of Metallica. But that’s just hogging our attention for Thrash that’s thirty five years old.  And I personally want new, fresh Thrash Metal bands, and in the last few years The Lost Society have been giving me that. This EP is a collection of three originals, and three classic cover versions.

Also I think a lot of classic Thrash Metal riffs, are going into other genres of music like Metalcore and mainstream Metal with bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for my Valentine and Trivium. The current scene is alive and well, and there are countless Thrash bands ripping up your local venues and these guys have built up a solid reputation on the live scene over the years. And from this EP, you can see why. Mantic Ritual seem to merge my fav Thrash era standards Sepultura's 'Schizophrenia', Metallica 'Kill ‘em All' and Megadeth's 'Peace Sells... but who's Buying?', Anthrax 'Persistence of Time' and anything early by Testament. These are gold standards and not to be replicated in case you f**k it up. Mantic Ritual have realled nailed all that on this release, and I think a lot of Thrash heads will be really happy about this.

Second track on the EP ‘Crusader’ is probably my favourite, It's like a cross between Metallica's 'Seak and Destroy', with a sprinkle of intelligent Canadian Thrash giants Annihilator during their ‘Alice in Hell’ phase.  The vocals are incredible in a James Hatfield / Glenn Danzig way, inspired by some early Paul Curcio production style soundscapes. The rest of the EP captures the vibes of Punk and Thrash around the 83 - 84 era... I'm talking Discharge, Venom, Broken Bones, Celtic Frost, English Dogs and yes, Charged GBH. It was a time when more Punk bands embraced Metal, and more Metal bands embraced Punk before they seem to go their separate ways again. 

There are a few bands keeping the spirit alive like Amen, Life of Agony, Sick of it All, Eighteen Visions, and loads of the Orange Country bands of the late 2000's. I think ‘Race against Time’ is a difficult song to cover as bands tend to choose more obvious GBH songs. On this track you have just one word go make an impression “GO!!” Fail that and no one will take notice. I’d say its one of the best GBH covers I’ve heard, probably even beating Slayer. This song is bloody brilliant, like the tracks on this EP. Which is a fine mix of Thrash and Punk that is delivered on point, and makes me think I can't wait for a full album.

Review by Jason Pearson

Check Out! the Video for 'Crusader' Below...