Next Testament CD
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one man
Active Member
I personally love Testament's ballads and generally like when bands try to show their other side at a song or two. Songs like that go well with thrash albums and give them a nice pause just to hit you again. Chuck does sound different on Cold Embrace than on the earlier ballads. I really appreciate his performance on the whole album and how he goes new places with his voice and pushes his limits. Too bad he wasn't experimenting that much when he was younger. I think that from a band with such skills one should expect some variety, and Chuck and Testament have done that without losing coherence. If I'm looking for relentless thrash assault with no place to breathe, I'll go with Exumer or Morbid Saint and enjoy it a lot. Testament has, however, always been much more than that in my eyes. They're beyond what an album belonging to a given genre "should" sound like (i.e. in Thrash's case: at least 80% fast songs with samey riffs, shred leads and shouted vocals - as some seem to define it).
As for the whole album - I still haven't had the chance to give it as many spins as I need to have a firm opinion. However, there's no denying it's Testament at their best. I absolutely love A Day in the Death - probably my favourite song for now. I'd love to see them even more melodic and go a little bit more proggy at times (with such musicianship it's natural to break boundaries), and to extend the classic thrash patterns verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-lead-verse-chorus more frequently. Still, this album is a perfect progression for them. Stellar performance by every member, great production too. Some of the shouted choruses may be hard to get into, but there are no weak points here, really. Well, perhaps Rise up is the only song I could live without, 'cause it's so obvious it's been written for the purpose of live performance and is too hokum at places. I didn't like More than meets the eye for the same reason at first.
I agree Last stand for independence is very similar to Henchmen ride, but for me it's a way, way better song in every aspect. Each of the covers is absolutely killer and each of the originals was approached in a different way, which is very cool. Chuck's vocal solo on Dragon Attack is unexpected and wonderful, although too short imo.
Anyway, it's great how they manage to explore new territories, but still remain the Testament sound. This album is much more musical, natural and much less pushed than Formation (which I still love). Where Formation was clearly a comback album, this one is done by a more confident, mature and cohesive band, aware of its strength and vision. Truly, a masterpiece.
As for the whole album - I still haven't had the chance to give it as many spins as I need to have a firm opinion. However, there's no denying it's Testament at their best. I absolutely love A Day in the Death - probably my favourite song for now. I'd love to see them even more melodic and go a little bit more proggy at times (with such musicianship it's natural to break boundaries), and to extend the classic thrash patterns verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-lead-verse-chorus more frequently. Still, this album is a perfect progression for them. Stellar performance by every member, great production too. Some of the shouted choruses may be hard to get into, but there are no weak points here, really. Well, perhaps Rise up is the only song I could live without, 'cause it's so obvious it's been written for the purpose of live performance and is too hokum at places. I didn't like More than meets the eye for the same reason at first.
I agree Last stand for independence is very similar to Henchmen ride, but for me it's a way, way better song in every aspect. Each of the covers is absolutely killer and each of the originals was approached in a different way, which is very cool. Chuck's vocal solo on Dragon Attack is unexpected and wonderful, although too short imo.
Anyway, it's great how they manage to explore new territories, but still remain the Testament sound. This album is much more musical, natural and much less pushed than Formation (which I still love). Where Formation was clearly a comback album, this one is done by a more confident, mature and cohesive band, aware of its strength and vision. Truly, a masterpiece.
My favorites so far are still Rise Up and True American Hate.Those are just great to blast from my car.although I do like breaking boundaries, I would have loved a whole album like those two.That would have been The Gathering 2.Also I love the title track.....I just saw that bestbuy has it back ordered already,A good sign!
one man
Active Member
For me The Gathering is brilliant, but when I want the Gathering I just play the original not wait for part 2. What I like about Testament is that they don't make the same record twice. I'm sure with the next one they'll surprise us again.
one man
Active Member
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpw_ofr-L8k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpw_ofr-L8k[/ame]
The title track played live. Seems to work out very well. Chuck sounds awesome. I'd wondered what the 4th addition to the setlist would be (apart from the "obvious" TAH, NB and RU - I hope these 3 don't get overplayed like more than meets the eye and formation). Hopefully we'll see all the new songs live one day (I think Killing Season, F.E.A.R. and Leave me forever haven't been played live yet and probably won't).
The title track played live. Seems to work out very well. Chuck sounds awesome. I'd wondered what the 4th addition to the setlist would be (apart from the "obvious" TAH, NB and RU - I hope these 3 don't get overplayed like more than meets the eye and formation). Hopefully we'll see all the new songs live one day (I think Killing Season, F.E.A.R. and Leave me forever haven't been played live yet and probably won't).
I think most Testament fans love The Gathering. It's just brutal from beginning to end, and the production is stellar. And with Dave Lombardo on drums how can you go wrong?
one man
Active Member
Yeah, it's absolutely awesome. I wouldn't mind some more solos and not having to struggle to hear freakin' SDG (why hire him if he's buried in the mix?), but apart from that it's a crazy album and Eric really programmed Dave to do unreal things to the drums. I know people that don't like that album - never understood that, but for me that goes for just about every Testament album.
one man
Active Member
Yep, just like they said they would. Rise up, Native blood and American hate where easily predictable even before the album release. I only wondered about the 4th one and am glad it turned out to be the title track. I'm guessing RU, NB and TAH will get overplayed. Dark roots will probably be replaced with something else from time to time.
The Gathering is quite possibly the perfect thrash record. But the fact that it came out in 1999 makes it easy for a lot of people to overlook it. I don't think Testament will ever top that album.
First of all.Awesome.Just awesome.Second I can't believe they didn't get one shot of Alex doing the solo! It almost looks like they went out of their way to not show him lol!
one man
Active Member
yeah, maybe they thought Greg was doing the solo 
. As for topping the Gathering - I think they just did.
Wonder whether with such good sales we'll see another video for the album. Would be nice.
. As for topping the Gathering - I think they just did.Wonder whether with such good sales we'll see another video for the album. Would be nice.
Yeah, it makes you wonder if the guy had something against Alex. He got shots of Eric doing his solo. Chuck looked like he was reading lyrics again.
They should do one leg of a tour where they play the new album in it's entirety (minus the bonus tracks except for Powerslave) with some other songs and video it for release.
anomynous
Active Member
- Jun 12, 2011
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Maybe if he wrote his own lyrics he wouldn't have such a hard time remembering them. Oh Chuck, please tell us you're not turning into Ozzy...
one man
Active Member
Ever since I remember Chuck would usually mess up the lyrics, even on songs played live as often as Electric Crown, 3 Days in Darkness or Souls of Black. So it's nothing new. I've noticed some of the mistakes are repeated constantly, and it might be the same here. Oh well, as long as he's got the melody right, it's fine.
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