Testament - The Gathering

[edgeofthorns]

Testament's - The Gathering disc has been re-issued by Prosthetic Records recently, along with two additional tracks from the original release. The track listing is as follows:

1. DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)
2. Down For Life
3. Eyes of Wrath
4. True Believer
5. 3 Days In Darkness
6. Legions of the Dead
7. Careful What You Wish For
8. Riding The Snake
9. Allegiance
10. Sewn Shut Eyes
11. Fall of Sipledome
12. Hammer of the Gods

The Lineup: Chuck Billy (vocals), Eric Peterson (lead & rhythm guitar), James Murphy (lead guitar), Steve DiGiorgio (bass), and Dave Lombardo

I've been a fan of this band since the late 80's when I first heard Practice What You Preach. With that said, I admit to ignoring them after the Skolnick era. After the band reunited and release the Live In London DVD it resurged my interest in them again. While awaiting their 2008 studio effort, I've been itching to hear some new material from these guys. Oddly enough, I've went back to listen to their discs that I ignored back in the 90's such as, The Gathering.

I'm totally blown away by what I'm hearing! I honestly believe this release ranks right up there with The New Order! I've allowed myself to get into the mindset that no veteran band is capable of matching anything from it's peak era. I believe Testament did back in 1999 when The Gathering was originally released. It seems to me that the band meshed an aggressive "death metal" sound with their signature, bluesy thrash anthems from the 80's. With that said, if you're guilty of ignoring Testament's catalog after Skolnick left the band, then we've been given a second chance with the re-release of The Gathering. I highly recommend checking it out if you've ever enjoyed this band's material whatsoever!

~Brian~

 

[DADRocks]

I love the Gathering. Not a big fan Demonic though. James Murphy handled the guitars and to me didn't disappoint. Testament is one of my all time favs. Planning on catching them 3 times on their current tour. If you haven't thrown in LOW in while a suggest throwing that in. Also has Murphy, great cd.

 

[Pelata]

'Low' & 'The Gathering' are 2 amazing albums!! 'Demonic' is OK, not bad, but doesn't pack the punch of the other 2...

 

[DADRocks]

Testament's - The Gathering disc has been re-issued by Prosthetic Records recently, along with two additional tracks from the original release. The track listing is as follows:

I believe it's only one bonus track. It's the instrumental track from the Japanese release. Which I bought when it was released, go figure it's on the reissue. Could of saved $18 bucks.

 

[Pelata]

I believe it's only one bonus track. It's the instrumental track from the Japanese release. Which I bought when it was released, go figure it's on the reissue. Could of saved $18 bucks.

But you would have had to wait 9 years for it...

 

[RagePSV]

I remember seeing them in 94 touring for Low. One of the best damn shows I've ever seen. That album just has so much energy.

Best album intro ever: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 6.... (on Demonic)

 

[VenomGA]

The Gathering May be their best album since the debut...LOVE the Gathering. So heavy

 

[Angrafan]

I LOVE the Gathering too.. you guys are talking about the band, right?

 

[RagePSV]

I LOVE the Gathering too.. you guys are talking about the band, right?

I like them too.

 

[edgeofthorns]

I remember seeing them in 94 touring for Low. One of the best damn shows I've ever seen. That album just has so much energy.

Best album intro ever: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 6.... (on Demonic)

I've never seen the band live before. Hopefully, I will soon.

~Brian~

 

[lifesadream]

The Gathering is a great album. At the time I thought Testament was on its last leg and when I heard it for the first time I was surprised how awesome it was. I havent seen Testament since the early 90's but I am going up to NY in April and will see them at BBKings. I remember seeing Judas Priest, MegaDeth and Testament at the Meadowlands on Friday night and the Nassau Collisium on Long Island the next night. Was a pretty awesome weekend of Metal.

 

[SOULISFOREVERBLACK]

I saw that same tour in 1990, Priest was touring for Painkiller, Megadeth was for Rust in Piece, and Testament was for Souls of Black. It was here in Atlanta at the old Omni, GREAT SHOW!!!

 

[Creeps]

Check the listing on who plays the drums on the Gathering and you'll see a good reason that disc stands out. Dave Lombardo.

Demonic was ok. I saw them on that tour with Stuck Mojo opening for them (their Pigwalk tour). Great show overall but not one of the best lineups for Chuck. That's probably why its just an ok disc. Either way it's 100x better than the Ritual.

the Low tour was great. Big turn out, Murphy's hometown down here, and they did a lot of great tunes, lots of joking around teasing the crowd with snippets of covers and earlier Testament tracks (one of which was First Strike Is Deadly in which the entire crowd went nuts, but they didn't play it all the way through - bastards!).

 

[dtfanatic]

Where'd they play on that tour? I saw them 6 times back in the day but I quit listening to them after the 4th album and didn't see the Low tour. I think the last time I saw them was either the tour with Slayer at the fairgrounds/and in Orlando the next night, or the above mentioned JP/Megadeth tour at the Lakeland Civic Center. The other times I saw them were opening for Anthrax at Jannus Landing (on their first album), headlining once at Jannus Landing in St. Pete (I think Atheist opened), and once at the Cuban Club (I believe Savatage and someone else opened). I've since gone back and got Low and The Gathering which are really good.

 

[ThrashMetalAddict]

Demonic was ok. I saw them on that tour with Stuck Mojo opening for them (their Pigwalk tour). Great show overall but not one of the best lineups for Chuck. That's probably why its just an ok disc. Either way it's 100x better than the Ritual.

A fellow Spring Hill metalhead, cool! I didn't think there were any others. I was at this show too. The State Theatre, right? I believe that's the last time they played here unless you count that really short set they played at Sun N' Steel with all the sound problems.

 

[Sumeet]

The Gathering is a kickass album... while I've never been the absolute biggest Testament fan, I remember picking this disc up when it came out in 1999, and was completely blown away. Not to mention, there weren't a whole lot of all-out thrash discs coming out right about then, and this gave the whole genre a good shot in the arm, IMO.

 

[Creeps]

A fellow Spring Hill metalhead, cool! I didn't think there were any others. I was at this show too. The State Theatre, right? I believe that's the last time they played here unless you count that really short set they played at Sun N' Steel with all the sound problems.

That's the place!

 

[ZHJ&T]

The Gathering is WAY SICK!! That disc was ruling my player for a couple months when it came out.

METAL!!

Jasun

 

[the rhythm]

I believe that's the last time they played here unless you count that really short set they played at Sun N' Steel with all the sound problems.

I travelled from Augusta to see them at that show. I was kind of disappointed, but getting on stage with them was an awesome experience. I think that Body Count was the beginning of the end for that show.