Hard to breach, but maybe it sounds easier that it sounds like. It is like trying to pick a lock where there is no lock at all, just a door that can be opened by a little shove. I thought about it a lot, and I found it hard to pinpoint my opening for this one, as this is one of the particular cases where it should have been smooth sailing and actually in reality, it is impartially far from what I expected. Just like the short story of the no lock situation, I couldn't transfigure the American Bay Area Metal band KILL RITUAL, a band that was essentially formulated out of the ashes of a dying band, IMAGIKA for whoever remembers, playing a type of Thrash that isn't really the Bay Area sprite, at least what their debut album showed, yet something changed within the ranks of the band from San Jose. Second guitarist Roberto "Peck" Proietti and drummer Wayne DeVecchi left the pack. KILL RITUAL didn't settle for second guitarist and remained a foursome, recruiting the skin basher, Gee Anzalone, which has been around the block. With their signing to GoldenCore Records / ZYX Music, KILL RITUAL issued their sophomore album, "The Eyes Of Medusa", a Metal screaming dish that I found it rather hard to digest at the first few bites, yet it was made with good intentions.

For one thing about KILL RITUAL, though it may seem like it, it is not a revamp kind of band to the bewitching generation of US Power / Thrash Metal, meaning the glory days of VICIOUS RUMORS, METAL CHURCH, AGENT STEEL, MELIAH RAGE, REVEREND and such, particularly after trying upon assimilating "The Eyes Of Medusa" and less in their debut "The Serpentine Ritual". Following the tracklist of ten songs, KILL RITUAL haven't really ditched Thrash but rather highlighted the genre's modernized and groovy version, had me thinking of earlier MACHINE HEAD, reaching a few corners of the early US Power, that has a good impact on the music, while also gut ripping through the shores of Rock N' Roll right on the outskirts of the Glam nation but with steel, whether musically or with some of their chosen themes. In the beginning some of the songs presented to me a band of veteran that got cocky, looking to experiment on the past and come up with a new mutation. Frankly, it is a sort of experiment still not done and worked on. At times, for example on the epic long length tinker "Writing On The Wall", the band's wishes to renew was to a certain degree unbearable, segments felt forced upon, just to make a stand that there is something genuine, however, there is that 50/50 chance for it to crumble.

On the other hand, I could feel the leftovers of the past peeping, sometimes beyond chirping like on the album's great tune, "The Eyes Of Medusa", a straight blast of devastating first of steel, a conjunction of Speed / Thrash Metal with brutish riffs and explosive vocals, overhauling the old days with grace. However, within the others tracks theses past visions took different forms as they were mixed with other elements. "Ride into the Night", "Just Another Sin" and "Agenda 21" noted on potential developments, showcasing a kind of songwriting that has a lot of promise, hard hitting riffery, classic lead guitar display by ex-IMAGIKA Steve Rice and a creative rhythm section with Danyael Williams bashing the bass and Gee Anzalone's skins devouring. In addition, there is that "tough guys" attitude corralled within the songs, chunky low end kickdowns and of course the suitable vocals of Josh "Crimson" Gibson that takes care of that decently with his hood guy narrations, which sounded somewhat cheap and ultimately out of context along with his Phil Anselmo tryouts that were adequate. At least the guy has a thin kind of mid high range that sounds really good, partially of the boyish naturism of the Glam Metal world along with a devilish smile.

In overall, though it took me a while, KILL RITUAL's fusion of genres and outtakes portrayed a path that could be rather interesting if perfected. "The Eyes Of Medusa" blinks nearly everywhere that generates that old patterns of Metal music, possibly something good is on the rise.