With eerie guitar leads and tomblike production conjuring the sonic equivalent of horror movie video covers, these guys were the only other thrash band I really cared about besides Metallica, and they seemed to pull off their inevitable 90s decline and senior regrouping better than their peers, even if I didn't keep up with all of it.
Beware! For it is my Top 13 Old and New Testaments!
Guitar key:
- Alex Skolnick & Eric Peterson
- James Murphy & Eric Peterson
- Eric Peterson
Committing fully to the death metal direction that was doing it for them, for now. I don't know if I'd ever explored these murky waters before or was always frightened off, but it's nothing I haven't heard from many other generic bands that they sound more like than Testament here.
Fave: Jun-Jun
Nice cover, shame about the mostly boring songs. This album makes more sense knowing its context as reluctantly rushed re-recordings of salvaged scraps for want of new material.
Fave: Malpractice
The predictable hard rock slowdown is a good enough stab at that sort of thing, but every time I've sat through the whole album I've ended up bored. Guitar solos erupting on cue can only do so much lifting.
Fave: Electric Crown
Heading in a more commercially alienating direction dallying with death metal, the shake-up and inspiration of a new guitarist makes this feel like a more authentic evolution than The Ritual did, even if it's not much more engaging. The Dave McKean cover art is perfectly 1994.
Fave: Trail of Tears
Recognisably Testament again, without having to sacrifice the death metal, they end a difficult decade on a relative high. Their best album without Alex Skolnick and better than some with.
Fave: Eyes of Wrath
The dark mythological focus is welcome, but exchanging the last album's variety in favour of relentless thrash is less to my heretical taste. Don't worry, it'll be over soon and you can calm down with some light computer muzak.
Fave: Neptune's Spear
So begins the part of this process where I try to compare the nuances in an ageing band's post-reunion albums after a first listen in most cases. The return of Skolnick and excessive guitar harmonies make it more appealing than anything from the 90s, but the mixed blessing of modern production (now relatively older than the first albums when I heard those) makes it a bit overbearing.
Fave: The Persecuted Won't Forget
Possibly their most diverse offering, from the return of ballads to some unexpected blacking-up that works for me. It's just a shame that it's mostly below par.
Fave: Para Bellum
The reunion era has lasted as long as the original era by this point, and this feels like a celebration of both. Which is a kind way of saying it's a throwback that brings nothing new to the table, but good riffs and that.
Fave: City of Angels
I've never particularly cared about lyrics, but I always found this serious issues album with its toned-down theatrics disappointingly bland when it was the spooky atmosphere that attracted me in the first place. Some of the songs are very catchy, but others are more goofy.
Fave: Practice What You Preach
The first of the reunion albums that washed ashore during my wavering interest in metal, I was immediately struck by its pretty much definitive balance of aggression and melody. It's also nice to have a bunch of distinctive songs again, it's only a shame it doesn't recapture that old black magic of objectively worse sound quality.
Fave: Native Blood
Scene-setting guitar intros akin to Iced Earth make all of these songs atmospheric and the punk beat keeps them moving. A couple are forgettable, keeping it from the top spot, but it's still an accomplished debut.
Fave: Apocalyptic City
There isn't much between the first two albums, but this one's a bit more consistent and throws in some instrumentals for good measure. 'The Preacher' was always my favourite song of theirs, partly for The Chaos Engine nostalgia.
Fave: The Preacher
