If you think that thrash died in the nineties, then you really need to look harder. There may not have been as many awesome releases as there were in the eighties, but there was a lot of quality stuff, and this demo is proof of that. Ritual Sacrifice would later go on to produce some metal that gravitated more towards death metal and grindcore, but on "The Inhuman Race," the thrash that they created is some top-notch, intense music that is severely under appreciated.
The seeds for Ritual Sacrifice's death/grind evolution were firmly planted here, although very subtly, but it worked out fantastically. The drumming on this record is excellent. The fast-paced assault here reminds the listener of Cryptic Slaughter a bit and gives the band a kind of crossover/grind feel. There are also some great fills present throughout, and it's just little nuances like this that make this demo and the music much better. The bass also shines at times with some very cool little doodles and solo parts. The vocals here are also stellar. They're more aggressive than your average thrash vocalist, but they're not full on death metal vocals or even death/thrash vocals for that matter, but they suit the music perfectly. Another notable part pertaining to vocals, are the awesome gang shouts during the choruses. They're just eargasmic.
The real meat of this demo though, comes from the riffs. The riffs here are catchier than the flu in a hospital. The midpaced riffs are guaranteed headbangers and the faster riffs can eviscerate an entire venue, especially when backed by those explosive drums. The intro riff on "Illusions of Sanity" is about as headbang-friendly as a riff can get and the thrashing assault on "This is Your God" could rival tunes by much more known bands such as Exodus or Anthrax.
There really isn't much more to say about this demo. It's some straightforward, no bullshit kind of thrash that is meant to wreck your neck. If you haven't had the pleasure of listening to this demo before, then you have to remedy that situation immediately.
Highlights
"This is Your God"
"Illusions of Sanity"
"Day of Retribution"
Final Rating
Awesome [8.7/10]
