Kill Ritual - The Serpentine Ritual

Now *this* is the kind of metal I'm looking for. Rags calls it meat and potatoes, I just call it METAL.Former Imagika members Steven Rice and Wayne DeVecchi were dead set on making an original straight ahead metal band, and found a similar intent in former Eldritch guitarist Roberto Proietti, and former Dark Angel bassist Danyael Williams. The result is Kill Ritual and their impressive debut album, The Serpentine Ritual.

Generally speaking, this is what Ragman would call "meat and potatoes metal", in that it's straight ahead heavy metal, not swinging too far into any particular subgenre. It's not symphonic, but it is satisfyingly dramatic. It's not progressive, but it's got more sophistication than, say, Motörhead. It's not power metal, but it does have moments of gothic bombasticity. Basically, this is the kind of thing you were headbanging to in the late 80s when metal ruled the airwaves with an iron fist.

Vocalist Josh Gibson really tops the sound of the band off with a classic metal voice, usually coming off like a cross between Bon Scott and Vince Neil. You can just picture this band rocking the shit out of clubs all over the place. BONUS: Andy La Rocque plays guest solo on Coat of Blood. Score!

The Bottom Line: This is good old-fashioned heavy metal at its finest, wreathed in smoke, smelling of beer and whiskey, and making it impossible to keep your head from banging and your leg from moving. Swagger, damn you!

Tracks To Make You Consider Getting a Pair of Leather Pants: The Serpentine Ritual, Ambush, Old School Thrasher, and Coat of Blood

- Genghis is an old school thrasher (and he wants metal tonight)...