This is a compilation from one of the founding-fathers of the ¨Bay-Area¨-movement during the mid 80’s and they are called Testament. The band is playing heavy thrash metal, their sound has been changing through out the years. At the beginning the band was more thrash metal with fast drumming, advanced riffing and the vocals were switching between yell screaming normal singing and later their sound became heavier and the vocals of Chuck Billy changed from slightly screamy to more neutral and now till this day changed into deep death metal growling. This compilation has lot of great material from Testament’s best days; these tracks are not new-recordings. They are all the originals from different albums.
TRACK INFORMATION
Signs Of Chaos (0:30)
This is just a short intro to the album, not much to mention about this, the only thing is that if you like guitar soloing you will find this a bit enjoying. N/A
Electric Crown (5:29)
This is a heavy and medium song, it has shredding riffs and the drumming is good. The vocals are Chuck’s normal singing style I would say, not screaming nor growling. The solos are great and so is the whole song, the verse is very good but the only thing that is bad with this song is the tiny solos which is played during the shreds, not a deal though. 4.5/5
The New Order (4:25)
This one is an old classic, a hammer-slamming riff and heavy drums beats makes this song a perfect head banging song. The song is about the world in this cursed future where everything is chaos, the song slows down during the solo which a mighty fine solo. This is definitely one of the highlight songs on this compilation that you should check out. 5/5
Alone In The Dark (4:02)
Starts with great soloing and later turns into a heavy and creepy song. Great and catchy drumming, the vocals are fast and light and the guitars are solid. Good solo section. I can’t describe the song better than this except that this song is great. 5/5
Dog Faced Dogs (4:02)
This is a song from the bands later days; this song has more direction towards the death metal area. The drums are very face and the vocals are growls. Also the guitar riffing style is different both the rhythm and solos. The song sounds a bit odd and is not a great song. 3/5
Demonic Refusal (5:21)
This is also a heavy song which also has some of the elements that was played in D.F.D. The drums are fast and the vocals are deep growls but the song is not a high-speed song. The guitars are good but the song feels flat and the flow is a bit strange. 3.5/5
The Ballad (6:08)
The song starts with melodic acoustic guitars and acoustic soloing, that later turns into a calm and melodic ballad. The guitars are great and the solos are great, the song gets heavier at the end and a bit thrashier. The end solo is good but I think that the song should have kept its original structure as it had from the beginning. But the song is still great. 5/5
Souls Of Black (3:21)
The song starts with a spooky bass line and later the rest of the band kicks in. The song sounds stomping and is not so catchy, it sounds like a song that is stuck in an intro. The guitars sounds scratchy but the solos are good though. 4/5
Trial By Fire (4:14)
Slow acoustic guitars and solos does the intro here, the song soon bursts out to heavy medium-paced and cruel head banging song. One great thing about this song is the heavy bass line which is part of the main riff, it sounds very cool and bass players would really enjoy this, I know I do. 5/5
Low (3:33)
This is a heavy song with aggressive semi-growls and of course normal growls. The guitars sound a bit weird and the song sounds to have a bit problem to get started if I say so. The song maybe would have sounded better if it had been played in a little faster tempo. Weird solos but the song has great vocals and good lyrics. 4/5
Practice What You Preach (4:54)
This is one of Testaments most melodic and technical songs. The song is really catchy and heavy. This song has also one of the bands greatest solos in my opinion, the intro solo is played by Eric Peterson and the main solo is played by Alex Skolnick. This was the song that got me into Testament and I bet it will continue to make people want to hear more Testament in the future. 5/5
Over The Wall (4:05)
This is one of Testaments first songs and it is quite technical. The drumming is fast but yet catchy and the riffs are really shredding. The song is catchy but it is the chorus that is great, the vocals are a mix of high pitched screams and Chuck’s normal vocals. The solo is one of the best here. 4.5/5
The Legacy (5:30)
This is also a ballad, calm and melodic. The entire song I would say is some kind of solo project because there are quite many solos in the song. Chuck’s vocals is good, the vocals are calm and sounds a bit peaceful actually. 4/5
Return To Serenity (6:29)
This is a ballad but this ballad is very different from the rest that Testament has made yet. The song is based around calm melodic guitars, the rhythm guitar plays semi-acoustics and the lead guitar does some kind of mini soloing, the lyrics are weird though. The solo sounds beautiful and so does the whole song, this is also a highlight that you should check out. 5/5
Perilous Nation (5:49)
The song starts with a small bass line and later the song transforms to a medium paced song. The riffs are heavy and the song has a good flow, good verse but great chorus. Good lyrics and good vocals. 4/5
Sails Of Charon (4:39)
This is a cover of a Scorpions song. I haven’t heard the original song so I can’t make good comparison. I think that this song is not so good, the song sounds flat and the riffs are boring. The vocals sounds weird too, it even doesn’t sounds like Chuck Billy. 2.5/5
Draw The Line (2:49)
This song is also a cover but this is a Aerosmith song. The song has a good flow and Chuck’s vocals is better here than in Sails Of Charon. Good guitars but the drums are a bit too loud. Quite an average song but it is way better than the previous cover. 3.5/5
Done, now when I have written about the 17 tracks I hoped I have done a good work. I think that this was a great compilation album because it had a lot of great songs. There are only two things that I thought badly about this album and that was one of the covers and of the originals song. I think that Testament’s cover of ¨Seek And Destroy¨ from world famous Metallica should’ve been here instead of Sails Of Charon. And I do miss Into The Pit, I have listen to it many times now and finally founds as good. Anyway, this album is great and I would recommend this compilation to people who haven’t heard so much Testament or are about to listen to them. The songs are great examples of the bands finest hours and are there for worth listening to.
PROS
+ Great sample of songs
+ There are many songs
+ There are all kinds of songs, heavy, fast, slow, melodic etc, etc
+ Great instruments and vocals
CONS
- The two ending covers should’ve been replaced by other songs
Overall album rating will be: 4.5/5
