CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

The Formation of Damnation

by: Testament

Release Date April 29, 2008
2008 has so far been a pretty good year for good old fashioned heavy metal. Iced Earth and Metallica have both had great comebacks right when I feared that both bands might be over, and if that weren't enough, you can add to that what is possibly the best of them all with this awesome new release from Testament. Their first album of original material in nearly ten years, "The Formation of Damnation" sees them picking up right where "The Gathering" left off. This is just pure, no-nonsene heavy metal. It doesn't try to do anything but just straight out rock hard, and rock hard it does. Add to that the return of Greg Christian and Alex Skolnick, and the addition of drum chief Paul Bostaph, and you've got a damn near perfect metal album.
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CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Legacy

by: Testament

Release Date October 25, 1990
The title says it all.

Not the greatest production, but the albums content more than makes up for it. Thhe songs are well written, fast and aggressive yet melodic and energetic, excellent guitar work between Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick and solos to raise demons from the abyss.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Low

by: Testament

Release Date October 04, 1994
This album saw Testament experiment a little with death metal, and contained some of their heaviest material to date.

While Low, Legions (In Hiding), Hail Mary, Shades of War, PC, Dogs Faced Gods, and Ride are all great headbangers, Urotsukidoji shows some great interplay between Greg Christian and the rest of the band, leading into Chasing Fear which is the most typical old school Testament song on the album, and probably the only time on the album I missed Alex Skolnick (as good as Skolnick is, James Murphy certainly was a worthy replacement).

However the slow song on this album, Trail of Tears, similar to Return to Serenity on The Ritual, wins the gold for the best song on the album. The song contains the albums best ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

The New Order

by: Testament

Release Date October 25, 1990
This is another solid offering from Testament, and is good from the start to the end.

While I list the Legacy as the best thrash metal album ever, the New Order is literally every bit as good, it's just the Legacy was the bands defining album as it came first.

The album did not sell too well for the band, possibly because MTV was too big on Metallica, Guns N Roses and Motley Crue to promote bands like Testament, certainly not because the album is lacking in material.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Practice What You Preach

by: Testament

Release Date August 02, 1989
Testament may not have invented thrash metal; nor be the most highly recognised name among thrash metal (perhaps depending if you count bands that don't play thrash metal anymore or not), but they are still the best thrash metal band, and even their worst albums put Metallica or most other bands' best to shame.

This is another solid offering from Testament, and is good from the start to the end.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

The Ritual

by: Testament

Release Date May 12, 1992
Where the previous album, "Souls of Black" was a little bit rushed and poorly produced, The Ritual put the band Testament back in form at the level of their previous album.

The album also sees the band changing their sound a little bit, slowing the tempo down. Return to Serenity is much like Testament's version of the Clansman (or maybe the other way around as it came first) and is an awesome song with great guitar work, Electric Crown is the band's version of You've Got Another Coming, songs like So Many Lies and The Ritual show the band experiementing with slower but still heavy sounds.

Only downside is nothing on this album is as fast as the pace of the previous four albums.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

The Gathering

by: Testament

Release Date January 08, 2008
I've Had all the testament albums and this is the best. These guys were a thrash band in the Eighties. The best one in my opinion.Then in the nineties they went through a stint of pure death metal(demonic,low).
then in 99'.they took the elements of the thrash combined with their death style and put out the gathering without skolnick(og) but peterson writes most the material anyway i believe. there is no way they could have improved on this album. style,production, art, direction. top 5 best metal albums ever and I listen to a bit of metal.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Souls of Black

by: Testament

Release Date October 01, 1990
First, the production was pretty bad (as it was on most early Testament albums, but this was thhe worst), meaning it's hard to feel the energy of the songs.

Second, this was their first album that was not solid from start to finish. You could play The Legacy, The New Order, or Practice What You Preach from start to finish and there was not a weak song or filler on the album, where Souls of Black is plagued by fillers.

Souls of Black, Face In The Sky and The Legacy are all top-notch songs from the band worthy of their first three albums. The problem is the rest of the album isn't as memoriable.

Still not a bad album by any means.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Demonic

by: Testament

Release Date January 08, 2008
I own the re-release by Prosthetic. Oh man! This is full of crunchy riffs and powerful grunting vocals from Chuck Billy. You bet it is like no other Testament release, but these guys excel on this thrashy death metal variant anyways. Just the energetic "The Burning Times" is worth the price of the entire album! Production-wise, this is just perfect. The rhythm section is intense and pounding, and the guitar riffs will get you air-guitaring until your wrists will melt. However, it's a shame there are not too many flashy solos (I do miss Skolnick) and that "Hatreds Rise" sounded to me so close to Scorpion's "The Sails Of Charon". But besides those two very minor flaws, this is enjoyable... as hell -- he, he. Crank it up to eleven, bang your head and you'll see... It's just so ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

First Strike Still Deadly

by: Testament

Release Date March 18, 2008
I had forgotten how good of a band Testament was. All of my Testament discs were lost/stolen a long time ago so this was a great replacement. NOTE: this is not just a re-mix but a actual re-recording of the best tracks from the first two albums with much better quality.

I think this is a very cool concept. How awesome would if be if Metallica re-recorded "Kill 'em All" or Megadeth re-recorded "Killing's My Business...And Business is Good." I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

These are great songs from a one-great band. My only gripe is that some of the songs have lost a little bit of their original edge (particularily "Over the Wall," my personal favorite).

Highly recommended.