I have mentioned before that Testament should have been in the big four – at the expense of Slayer. They had the tunes and Slayer just had the image. This is the band’s 13th album released in 2020, and it has a very old sounding vibe to it. It’s not trying to be all modern metal, just good old thrash with plenty of groove and killer solos. They have one of the genre’s best guitar players in Alex Skolnick, and he rips it up all over the record. Gene Hoglan is the drummer on this album, and he has to be a machine with some of the beats he lays down here.
There is not a breath to be had with first three tracks that take up Side 1, Children Of The Next Level, WWIII, and Dream Deceiver – all are killer tunes with epic riffs and grooves. Night Of The Witch has such a wicked beat that I’m sure Hoglen is about to explode. The intro to City Of Angels is very dramatic, before we settle down to old school thrash groove-age. Killer guitar intro to Ishtar’s Gate, which is one of my favourites on the album. Big hats off to Chuck Billy whose vocals are on point throughout and sounds as good as ever. I’m a big sucker for chugga riffs, and The Healers hits the spot perfectly. Curse Of Osiris is fast – even by Testament’s standards. Woah boy! Code Of Hammurabi gets my vote for best track as it has a killer speed metal riff and groove that Megadeth could only dream of.
9.5/10 from The Grooveman.
