This one is solid, but it's re-visiting (again) the 21st Century Testament. It's to me better than 'Brotherhood of the Snake' (2016), but only in some respects. The riffs are fresh and probably most of the music was written by Eric Peterson. The leads by Alex Skolnick were good, just nothing like is "just starting out" days. I think he was better on earlier Testament albums. He's gotta be that "aging metal guy" which he doesn't like to refer to himself as. Chuck Billy is Chuck on vocals, nothing that much different than before. I've honestly never liked his voice, it's just something that I have to accept. The music is good and so is the production.

There hasn't been much of a line-up change really at least 3 of the founding members of the band: Chuck, Eric, and Alex. But they're veterans still putting out good music. They've never changed their style, either. It's always been thrash metal. And I think that's what's good and defines the band better. The only main criticism is that the riffs could've been a little catchier. They fall short somewhat, but I still give them a "B" for effort. And was it worth the wait? Maybe, at least there are a lot of songs and the album is an hour.

The music varies, sometimes thrash based (mostly), but in some cases clean guitar. Not much of it though. It lacks the aggression that their previous had more of. But anyway, it's still them kicking ass even in their middle age. The musicians are all top notch, but the album could've been more aggressive. They seemed a bit slower as in "aged", but that doesn't want me to not see them on tour. That is, when Chuck Billy is clear of Covid-19. He's dealt with a lot over the years and he's 57, so let's hope he's going to recover. As far as Alex goes, he's less technical nowadays. I think he's more into jazz than metal. He's kind of lost the fire.

Testament as a band on here did a good job as a follow-up, but they still need a little more innovation in the riff department. Eric needs to come up with guitar riffs that are more innovative. I kind of found them to be sort of generic in a way. But still, they're good though they just needed more aggression on here. It's as if they're less harsh with the anger. It didn't stop me from ordering this on CD, but it's just not one of my favorites. It's decent, but not nearly in any way their best. Let's hope for a successful tour when the pandemic is over. And Chuck is healthy again. I think Steve DiGiorgio, too.

If you want to show your support for Testament, buy the physical album. You can download it, but give back to the band for not changing their genre like other bands, mainly Metallica. They're still good, just not as heavy of an album. It's just better than average. I'm sure reviews of varying feedback for this one. Mine is positive, not because I'm from the Bay Area like they are, but the fact that they're still around says a lot to me. And making music, thrash music. I was really weary of what to rate this, but I thought that I was being fair. It's an honest score. Let's just hope they'll be back for recording another album in the future. Support the band!

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
04/11/2020 16:32