{"id":97255,"date":"2022-09-02T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T23:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=97255"},"modified":"2022-12-21T12:22:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T12:22:16","slug":"ep-review-mantic-ritual-heart-set-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-mantic-ritual-heart-set-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"MANTIC RITUAL – Heart Set Stone EP (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MANTIC RITUAL
Heart Set Stone EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nM-Theory Audio (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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While I appreciate the cover versions of G.B.H.\u2019s \u2018Race Against Time\u2019, Mercyful Fate\u2019s \u2018Black Funeral\u2019 and Razor\u2019s \u2018Cross Me Fool\u2019, I\u2019d much prefer to concentrate on the punky thrash delivered via the trio of original tracks; \u2018Life As Usual\u2019, \u2018Crusader\u2019 and \u2018Heart Set Stone\u2019.<\/p>\n

This is some solid metal from the re-united American combo that has been rather quiet since their debut full-length outing in 2009. It\u2019s crazy to think that back then these guys were signed to Nuclear Blast. That debut outing Executioner<\/em> was a very solid release, but I much prefer the heavier, angrier tone of this EP. Maybe it was just a poor mix first time round but with these three new tracks they offer up extra crunch, mostly in the chugging guitar tone.<\/p>\n

Heart Set Stone<\/em> very much pays homage to the thrash that was around at the tail-end of the 80s, as original members Dan Wetmore (vocals and guitar), Jeff Potts (guitar) and Ben Mottsman (bass) are joined by new face on the block Carlos Cruz (drums).<\/p>\n

Opening cut \u2018Life As Usual\u2019 is an absolute ripper streaked with a dazzling melody, but also has a hardcore snarl. It really is a pure, authentic sounding 80s vibe with infectious riffs mashed with blazing speed and clinical lead work. Wetmore\u2019s vocals remain on-point; youthful, energetic and choppy in their raps.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s somewhat obvious that thrash titans such as Metallica (early stuff), Slayer<\/a> and Dark Angel provide obvious inspiration, but there\u2019s just such a pissed off energy about this release. \u2018Crusader\u2019 boasts a powerful vocal performance and excellent scything riffage, and the title track kicks off with some flashy lead work before the combo embarks on a Slayer-esque assault with a crossover vocal slant.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of meat here to chomp on and for me it suggests a band that is better off not being dictated to by a big label. This is very good thrash metal that has an independent feel and I really hope the guys have luck in getting a second album out soon.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANTIC RITUALHeart Set Stone EP M-Theory Audio (2022)Rating: 7\/10 While I appreciate the cover versions of G.B.H.\u2019s \u2018Race Against Time\u2019, Mercyful Fate\u2019s \u2018Black Funeral\u2019 and Razor\u2019s \u2018Cross Me Fool\u2019, I\u2019d much prefer to concentrate on the punky thrash delivered via the trio of original tracks; \u2018Life As Usual\u2019, \u2018Crusader\u2019 and \u2018Heart Set Stone\u2019. This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5157],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-mantic-ritual"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97256,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97255\/revisions\/97256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}