Clash of the album covers

Here you go.

Dark Angel-Darkness descends


vs.

Testament-The Legacy



**Which cover do you prefer?

Battle of the bands

It's a battle of east vs. west today.

Overkill

vs.

Testament

Overkill emerged from the New York/New Jersey area in the early 80's and slowly built a following. They released an EP and an album on Megaforce before signing to a major. Their popularity increased hitting a peak around the late 80's very early 90's. They are still going on releasing an album every other year and touring regularly.
Testament started as Legacy in the Bay area scene. They rose through the ranks and changed names and singers. They were signed to a major label for their debut and climbed in popularity peaking around 1990. They pushed on through the rest of the 90's with line-up and style changes. The last decade has seen them come and go and come again with a few albums and some major supporting slots on tours.

***Which band do you prefer?

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Seputura-Chaos A.D.

VS.


Testament-Low

Which cover do you choose?

Clash of the album covers

Here are your choices.




Dream Theater-Images and Words

vs.



Testament-Souls of black

***So which cover do you prefer?

Testament-First strike still deadly

Prosthetic
2001/2008 Re-issue



I never actually heard this when it first came out years ago, but back in 2001 Testament decided to re-record some of their early songs. I am not usually big on the idea of a whole album of re-recorded songs and that was the main reason I didn't pursue this CD back then. Yet as the re-issue came out I decided to check it out because by the second half of the 1990's Testament had gotten way heavier and their music had become more involved. There seemed to be enough of a reason to believe that doing their old tracks might result in some fairly worthwhile results. I put in the disc and was immediately puzzled by the rather dull production values that really were not quite as sharp as this band's material back in 1987-88. That's just production though, the real key is what they do with the music. The answer is unfortunately not a whole lot as the changes here are surprisingly minimum. There are a few flourishes here and there, but most are minimal and the misses are more than the hits. The misses are that on a number of the critical pace changes they don't hit it nearly as sharp or as bold as they did the first time around. This makes them sound a little old as it's like saying you can hit a home run like you used and then swinging just enough to get a single. Chuck Billy's are fine if he was only aiming to do the songs just as they were originally done. Yet his style had changed to a more death metal growl on Testament's mid-late 90's efforts. I was hoping for at least a little of those growls, but he just kind of stays the course and rolls it out like he did way back then only slightly less aggressive. Really this is just an alright album that doesn't add a whole lot to what they did on the original versions. I just can't imagine anyone except real Testament diehards who want everything by the band feeling the need to buy this album.

Testament-The Gathering

Prosthetic
1999/2007 re-issue

Two years after "Demonic" Testament had to again make some sweeping line-up changes before recording their next effort. They brought in legend Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Steve DiGiorgio (Death) and brought back James Murphy (Death, Obituary) to complete the line-up. I think the death metal elements are a little less here and it leans far more towards the thrash of Testament's work between 1987 and 1990. Yet "The Gathering" is likely heavier in a way that they only touched on in their early albums. There are some definite thrash parts busting loose here and there, but it's the bone-crunching, raw heaviness of this album that got me. This release is probably more straight forward than "Low" or "Demonic", but they plunge forward and just plow into the tracks. Testament never really become more or less involved through their long career, but instead they seem to center more on the level on intensity that they bring. The production is a big help as the sound here comes across as being massive in nature. There is not a lot of build-up to most of the tracks here as they just kind of launch into them, but they don't need build-up. It will only take seconds for the songs to smack your senses and make you realize just how cutting this band can be no matter who is in the band. Fans of Testament's earlier works might be more into this one than they would the two previous albums.

Testament-Demonic

Prosthetic
1997/2007 Re-issue


It doesn’t seem that long since this first came out, but I guess it has been more than a decade now so it’s get a re-issue. Plus hearing this one helps to get me in the mood and my mouth watering for the new release “The formation of Damnation” which will be out next month. By 1994 Testament were an established veteran act, but the star had fallen some and speed metal's popularity had dipped tremendously. So Testament switched things up and added elements of death metal and released "Low" which was far and away their most aggressive and heaviest album at the time. Fast forward a few years and some line-up changes were made as Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad) Glen Alvelas and Derek Ramirez were brought to complete the line-up. The infusion of death metal continued on "Demonic", but to a slightly lesser extent than on "Low". There is more of a groove on this album and perhaps a stronger focus on the heaviness as opposed to speed. However, it's just as aggressive and brutal, but they are more patients about building up the songs here. They took a very control oriented approach as they pull and guide us through what they have in store. It's an album where the band just shows all kinds of confidence in what they are doing. The music benefits from this approach because it is an extremely tight mountain of an album that grabs you and drags you along for the ride. Nice re-issue from Prosthetic and this one has a different cover from the original.