Although I enjoyed/enjoy this release (it's Testament), I'm disappointed in just about every way.
The slower tempos kill everything. All the primal, youthful intensity that made those early records so great is gone. The sterile, cold production doesn't help.
From an instrumental perspective, Tempesta is mediocre at best on drums. His performance on
Low was fucking excellent, and whether it was his choice or Eric's to simplify things, it sounds barely, if at all, better than Louie's original drum tracks. The guitar work is fine, although the chugga-chugga sound (production again) hurts. Skolnick's solos are tasteful and well-done. The bass playing is also excellent, but, go figure, it's buried in the mix.
Chuck sounds strong as ever. I wouldn't mind hearing some of those
Legacy-styled screams again, but Chuck is my favorite vocalist ever and nothing will change that. Zetro is retro, but not a very good vocalist, as someone already said.
They chopped the intro from "Disciples Of The Watch".
DEADLY EMBRACE says Testament chose what they wanted to do. Then why promote it by saying "the fans wanted to hear...", "we did this for them...", etc etc. When the tracklisting is only decent, I would've been far happier seeing them work on new material.
Not to mention this revolving door drum throne shit. Eric must be taking the Cradle Of Filth/Norwegian black metal influences beyond the music, as the constant changing of band members only hurts this band. I'm happy with DiGiorgio, but when you get Dave Lombardo on your album, make fucking sure he stays in the band. He makes any album better. And don't get me started on Dragonlord...
I love Testament, and they will forever be one of my favorite bands. But loving a band is accepting their faults, and that's how I feel about this band. Chuck and Eric could go through ten more drummers, and I'd still buy all of their albums on the first day of release. Like any diehard fan, I have my criticisms and opinions, and I'm sorry if I've been so blunt. Then again, not really.
<anxiously awaiting the new album>