MANTIC RITUAL was formed in 2004 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as MELTDOWN. After guitarist Jeff Potts joined them in 2007, they moved to Hollywood, California and became MANTIC RITUAL. That same year they were also signed to Nuclear Blast Records. We are talking about a thrash band that released their debut album "Executioner" in 2009, which was produced by the renowned Andy Classen. Unfortunately, their career was short-lived when in 2010 first Dan Wetmore quit the band to pursue his life's ambition to make it big in photography. Shortly after him original drummer Adam Haritan also left, which landed them the final blow.

Thankfully they all came back together in 2020, although with drummer Carlos Cruz, and MANTIC RITUAL was resurrected once again. Now they are gracing us with an EP with two songs. For reasons that will become clear later on I will start with the second song. And yes, those in the know might have guessed it, it is a very good rendition of the masterful MERCYFUL FATE song "Black Funeral". They really do the original song justice, even in the way it is sung.

As for the title song, "Crusader" might be construed as a Thrash Metal song, it relies heavily on riffs that also could have come from the mighty MERCYFUL FATE. This is how you'd expect them to sound if they were a Thrash Metal band. Only the voice is different, but that's where it becomes a MANTIC RITUAL song. And as you will have gathered from my review, I love it. It is dark, dangerous but also light-hearted and very moshable. The only thing to do now is hope that these guys keep it together and give us a full album asap!