Innovative experimentation can be a wondrous thing in music; it certainly worked well for boldly original risk-takers such as
Miles Davis
,
David Bowie
Charlie Parker
Prince
Ornette Coleman
, and
Jimi Hendrix
. But realistically, not every recording artist is going to be an innovator; many musicians will inevitably turn to the past for inspiration. And if overtly retro performers can be a part of jazz and the blues, is there any reason why they shouldn't be a part of metal? There isn't -- as long as the people who emulate the past do it well. On their debut album,
Executioner
Mantic Ritual
(formerly
Meltdown
) offer a passionate and inspired throwback to 1980s thrash metal.
was originally released in 2007 (back when the Pennsylvania band was still going by
) and was reissued by
Nuclear Blast
in March 2009, but stylistically, it might as well have been recorded in the mid- to late '80s. The material is a total throwback to thrash metal's heyday, and
obviously get their inspiration from old-school thrashers such as
Exodus
Anthrax
Megadeth
Slayer
, and early
Metallica
(that is, the thrash-oriented
of
Ride the Lightning
and
Master of Puppets
-- not the alternative metal
of 1996's
Load
). And
's look (long hair, jeans ripped at the knees, metal T-shirts, black leather motorcycle jackets) is as 1980s as their music. Clearly, tracks like
"Black Tar Sin"
"By the Cemetery"
are hardly groundbreaking by late-2000s standards, but
play these songs with so much conviction that die-hard thrash enthusiasts can easily deal with their lack of originality -- or even enjoy it. Given thrash's importance (thrash metal/speed metal was the first type of metal that seriously incorporated punk), it isn't surprising that some 21st century bands will want to emulate thrash's 1980s heyday -- and
do so with inspired, if derivative, results on
. ~ Alex Henderson