To be fair, these guys appear to be achieving exactly what they are setting out to do; create quasi-extreme music for people who don't normally enjoy extreme music. Admittedly, the first few leads shown in Ritual are actually pretty nifty. Much like eating mini-donuts, the first few are pretty damn good, shortly followed by the realization that you should find other means for sustenance. It seems almost like a compilation of half-assed aspects that are done better by other bands. The blistering extreme thrash moments make me want to listen to Skeletonwitch, the melodic leads make me want to listen to perhaps Arsis, and the "evil" sounding bits make me want to listen to Hannah Montana.
Terrible? Nah. To call Ritual a terrible album would be to say it left some kind of impression. Unremarkable. I like that word; feels comfortable using it on this album. Go eat an entire loaf of white bread with nothing on it, then you'll have an idea of what listening to this album is like. Yeah...it's not a shitty experience, just a pointless one.
