Every time a new Testament album is announced, it realigns the law of “thrash” nature. This has always been one of the most trustworthy bands in the genre and the quality of their music is as certain as the fact the sun rises from the east. The line-up has also been stable for the last eleven years with the only new member this time being Chris Dovas behind the drums.
Five and a half years have passed since the excellent Titans Of Creation, which happened to be the last album Gene Hoglan played in, so the excitement for Para Bellum is high, to say the least. It’s a fact that the rare criticism Testament have met since the return of Alex Skolnick pointed out the albums sounded too similar to one another. The band perfected their style with The Formation Of Damnation and I really can’t rule it out that there is some truth behind such a statement. Well, it seems that Testament, intentionally or not, have created their most diverse album since The Gathering. The first shock to the system comes with the opening juggernaut For The Love Of Pain, which lets loose Peterson’s and Dovas’ extreme metal influences. If you ever wondered how a black metal song recorded by Testament would sound like, this is the answer. Peterson even throws in some black metal screams alongside Chuck’s inhuman roar and, believe me, mid-song this almost sounds like Dark Funeral.
This works great as a wake-up-call (if we ever needed one), before Infanticide A.I. enters more familiar thrash waters, although Dovas’s furious blast beats and imaginative patterns add a whole new level of aggression and bite to the song. No disrespect to a legendary name like Hoglan, but the new guy Chris Dovas delivers a stellar performance throughout the whole album, sitting proudly on a stool occupied by not only Hoglan, but other legends like Lombardo, Bostaph, Louie Clemente, John Tempesta and Jon Allen.
Shadow People, along with Nature of the Beast are mid-tempo groove monsters, sounding very heavy with the top notch mix by Jens Bogren, and closest in spirit and style to the latest albums. High Noon is almost death metal, bringing to mind the underrated Demonic, while Witch Hunt once again plays with black metal influences and extreme drumming, but sounds better and more catchy that the album opener. It’s interesting that Testament’s longtime friend and early member Steve “Zetro” Souza has penned the lyrics for this song. Elsewhere, the album’s main lyricist is Del James, who has worked with the band since The Ritual.
Room 117 and Havana Syndrome are both fantastic songs with some of the best melodies and choruses in the whole album –Chuck’s performance really strong, with Havana Syndrome in particular hammering in a monster of a chorus, the song as a whole reminding me of Electric Crown, Skolnick’s solo also being otherworldly. The title track is another brutal thrash kick in the teeth, showing Testament’s utter class and legendary status in the genre. The band ages like fine wine and Para Bellum sounds absolutely outstanding, delivering not just one of the thrash highlights of the year but also of their whole career.
10/10
Para Bellum will be out on October 10th and can be ordered from HERE
The new tour starts on October 5th and here are the dates:
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