After nearly a decade without releasing any fresh material, Testament return to take the throne of thrash with their new album The Formation Of Damnation. Will they have much of a fight on their hands?
From a fan’s point of view, you can never be sure what you’re going to get when bands return from long absences. Thrash bands don’t have a reputation for ageing well, and the ones that kept going have largely declined into musical mediocrity (yes, Metallica, we’re looking at you). So perhaps we should be thankful for Testament’s wilderness years – the lengthy period of injuries, illnesses and line-up changes that foreshadowed The Formation Of Damnation.
Old-school fans will have extra cause to rejoice, as The Formation Of Damnation sees Testament come as close as ever to their original line-up, including the welcome return of axe-man Alex Skolnik on lead guitar duties; only current drummer Paul Bostaph didn’t feature on 1987’s The Legacy. And while there’s been a lot of water under the bridge, it seems Testament haven’t forgotten how thrash was meant to sound.
In case you’ve forgotten, thrash was meant to sound loud; loud, powerful and fast. The Formation Of Damnation is full of savage chuggity-chug chord work and galloping pace from the rhythm section, the drums and bass locked tight together into a juggernaut of crunch. Over the top of it all Skolnik works his magic, producing hooky lead lines and solos that combine technical proficiency with a great sense of harmony, putting a lot of today’s modern shredders to shame. He’s got speed, sure, but he’s also got feeling too.
The frontman and voice of Testament, Chuck Billy, seems to have acquired a little extra melodic sense over the years, even if he doesn’t have the strident power that he used to. Billy hasn’t wussed out, though – his vocals on The Formation Of Damnation veer between the classic thrash delivery and a more death-influenced guttural bellow, and unlike a lot of younger singers you can always make out the words. Call me old-fashioned, but I rather like that.
The songs themselves are fairly traditional thrash fare – but then you don’t really go to bands like Testament for poetic genius. That said, the title track “The Formation Of Damnation” roundly condemns the rationale and motivations of the Iraq conflict, while “Killing Season” was allegedly written to be an inspirational track for soldiers heading into battle. Just goes to show that in music, as everywhere else, politics are rarely black and white … or red and blue.
The Formation Of Damnation sees the biggest of the thrash underdogs take to the field again, and while it’ll never sound as if they’d never gone away, it’s great to have them back. While younger listeners may wonder what all the fuss is about – as they’ve made no concessions to modern fashions – veteran thrash fans will find that Testament bring the past bang up to date without any hollow nostalgia.
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Posted in Music reviews |
Tags: Formation Of Damnation, metal, Testament, thrash
