Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release date: July 27, 2012
Producer: Andy Sneap
Album length: 50.48 min
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 9.0/10
If there’s ever been a bigger injustice in music, it’s that Testament have always stayed in the shadow of the Big Four of thrash. And that’s despite putting out their first recordings (still as Legacy, admittedly) back in 1985 and riding high on the first wave of thrash metal. That they went on to make some of the greatest thrash classics ever with The Legacy, The New Order and Practice What You Preach is obvious even to the deaf. An even bigger sign that Testament are simply the kings of thrash is that they never stopped playing, even through the turbulent nineties (they only paused activities for a while when Chuck Billy got cancer). What’s more, while the Big Four were losing their edge, Testament sped their sound up, brutalized it and even added elements of death metal, then dropped a new trio of crushing albums – Low, Demonic and The Gathering – which were unfairly overlooked in the general deadness of thrash metal.
Come 2006/2007, thrash was having its rebirth, and practically every band that had split up in the late eighties/early nineties was back (Forbidden, Laaz Rockit, Sacred Reich and many others, and of course Metallica hopped back on the thrash wagon too). Testament announced their mighty studio comeback with the excellent The Formation of Damnation, which we had to wait a whopping nine years for. Luckily, its successor arrived after just four years, and what we have here is the thrash record of the year, Dark Roots of Earth!
On it, Testament combine nothing but the best; two worlds collide here and create a new, even better one. Testament have never merged old-school thrash and the aggressive, almost death metal sound of their nineties albums so perfectly before. Exhibit A is the opening bomb Rise Up, where riff machine Eric Peterson leads us in on the wings of a classic The New Order feel. After almost thirty years he shows no sign of running out of ideas, and his guitar lines still sound fresh, punchy and varied. Plenty of the credit goes to Andy Sneap’s production, which kicks with all fours, and the unbridled energy of a raging bull sprays off the album at every turn. Sneap has once again delivered a fantastic sound: crystal clear, with guitars that are sharp, distinct and razor-cutting, drums that are dynamic and just destructive enough, and Billy’s vocals up front, as befits the chief of the tribe. Sadly, Andy kept his one weakness this time too: Greg Christian’s bass lines are buried under the mighty wall of guitars, which is a real shame, since his bass tone was always (alongside Peterson’s riffs and Skolnick’s solos, of course) a clear Testament trademark. This time it only surfaces in the rattle of Rise Up, a short solo excursion in A Day in the Death, and a more pronounced bass sound in Last Stand For Independence. And that’s the only weakness of Dark Roots of the Earth, because in every other respect we can talk about it only in superlatives. Alex Skolnick’s solos are once again fluid, technically superior, epically long and masterfully executed, not to mention the goosebump-inducing melodies and harmonies. Skolnick proves he’s no ordinary guitarist, the kind whose name makes even bigger guitar names, Wayne included, drop to their knees. One of the finest examples is the album’s single, Billy’s rebellious cry Native Blood (another tribute to his Native American roots), an epic, aggressive anthem of defiance that’s completely stolen by Chuck’s phenomenal vocal performance (well, that and Hoglan’s blast-beating during the chorus, which might sound a bit awkward the first time but blends perfectly into the song with every relisten). People, Chuck Billy beat cancer less than ten years ago, and he sounds like a roaring machine, with no hint that he’s got almost thirty years of thrash screaming behind him! This time the vocals are truly varied and dynamic, and Billy shows off all of his astonishing skills – from thrash vocals in the style of The Legacy and Practice What You Preach, through brutal growls (which put three quarters of all cookie monster vocalists to shame!) like we know from Demonic, all the way to the shiveringly clean and gentle performance on the ballad Cold Embrace. Yes, Testament are trying their hand at a ballad again for the first time since 1994 (Trail of Tears off Low), this one about vampire love, which Chuck Billy described as something that would fit into the Twilight saga. Well, Chuck was way off with that one: next to this tragically chilling ballad, with its rising atmosphere and brilliantly dark vibe, the little vampires from that idiotic teen saga wouldn’t sparkle in the sun, they’d burn up in it in a big blaze. The almost eight-minute semi-ballad is one of the best things on the record, marked by a fantastic interplay of Skolnick’s and Peterson’s guitar lines. Peterson picks up an acoustic guitar, while Skolnick uses eerie harmonies to describe the young vampire girl’s unquenchable longing for the sun. Which of course goes unanswered, though the same can’t be said of Billy’s explosive vocals, which peak in the outstanding chorus. But Testament aren’t done with surprises there, because they save two of the album’s best tracks for the very end – the seven-minute epic Throne of Thorns, the album’s songwriting peak, full of breathtaking riff juggling between Alex and Eric, riffs as heavy and mighty as the tracks of a bulldozer rolling forward. Atomic clock Gene Hoglan, with a brilliant drumming performance, proves once again that he’s simply one of the greatest. He’s meshed with Testament even better than on Demonic, and although he drummed most of the material following Eric’s instructions (hence the blast beats in Native Blood and True American Hate, an influence Peterson undoubtedly brought over from his double black metal project Dragonlord), Hoglan’s work deserves nothing but the highest praise.
On the bonus disc included in the deluxe edition, Testament throw three covers into their blender and stamp them with a strong Testament spirit and a mark of their own. The thrashed-up Dragon Attack (Queen) and the Iron Maiden classic Powerslave, to which Skolnick respectfully adds a few of his own touches, work especially well. The Scorpions hit Animal Magnetism comes out a bit clumsier, but the guys then sit us on a throne of thorns and unleash rabid dogs from the kennels that bite us just like the riffs of the extended version of Throne of Thorns.
With Dark Roots of Earth, Testament pulled off something incredible – they topped their predecessor The Formation of Damnation. The legendary Americans serve up nothing but the best on the new record, there’s no end in sight to the guitar wizardry of one of the best guitar duos around, Skolnick/Peterson, Chuck Billy sounds better than ever, and the whole thing is phenomenally wrapped up by the bombastic Hoglan-Christian tandem. Dark Roots of Earth is what practically every thrash band has failed at: keeping the old-school spirit, staying true to your (dark) roots, and still sounding fresh, convincing and mighty. Dark Roots of the Earth is without a doubt one of the strongest contenders for album of the year, and there’s no way anything thrash-wise is topping this beast this year. Forget the Big Four (Dave Mustaine can go cry in Lars Ulrich’s lap), the real kings of thrash metal are and remain Testament!
Author: Rok Klemše
Track list:
1. Rise Up
2. Native Blood
3. Dark Roots of Earth
4. True American Hate
5. A Day in the Death
6. Cold Embrace
7. Man Kills Mankind
8. Throne of Thorns
9. Last Stand For Independence
10. Dragon Attack (Queen) *
11. Animal Magnetism (Scorpions) *
12. Powerslave (Iron Maiden) *
13. Throne of Thorns (extended version) *
* CD/DVD deluxe edition only
Line-up:
Chuck Billy – vocals
Alex Skolnick – guitar
Eric Peterson – guitar
Greg Christian – bass
Gene Hoglan – drums
GUESTS:
Chris Adler – drums
