Eleven golden oldies recorded with 21st century production. A cool concept, that I would like to hear from various bands. Of course this kind of recording raises a thought of money grabbing, but Testament's fans had pressed the band for a good time, hoping the the band would re-record some of the classic songs. The band listened and did go further than remixing older recordings. For fans and the memory of Chuck Schuldiner.

The line-up of musicians on this one is a very interesting one, at least for old Bay Area thrash follower. Testament mainmen Chuck Billy (vocals) and Eric Peterson (guitar) are joined again by former guitar master Alex Skolnick, fretless bass guru Steve DiGiorgio (ex-Sadus, Vintersorg etc. etc.), John Tempesta (ex-Exodus, ex-White Zombie etc.) hitting skins, and the original vocalist Steve Souza (later in Exodus). Zetro Souza handles the vocals on the last two songs. On 'Alone in the Dark' he sounds rather bad, at least on the verse parts; it's like bad rapping (well, I haven't heard good rapping anyway) or something, but on bashing 'Reign of Terror' from Legacy's debut demo he does shine! Chuck Billy is his brutal semi-melodic and beary himself, even though the man was going through chemotherapy during the recording; he lost his wild scream, sadly.

Doug Hall recorded and Andy Sneap mixed this and made it sound bloody brutal and raw, but still very coherent. Tuning of the guitars make this heavier, too. The sound works, period. However, the echoing soundscapes of older recordings are but a memory, for a big part (not that they always sounded perfect; especially 1988's 'The New Order' does have a tad too spacey and messy production, if you ask me). The production job on this one is more boxy and not so ripping, and the performances are mostly more technically shining. Anyway, this is made for listening fucking loud!!! One thing that bugs me is the lame cover artwork and layout; there's no photos, just the lyrics and credits. Okay, the music is the really important part here, but yeah, it's bloody lame design.

These songs go back in time to when the band were known as Legacy. From Legacy's sole demo 'First Strike is Deadly' (1985) the song 'Reign of Terror' is included among three more well known pieces (which also appeared on the debut album 'The Legacy' in 1987). Five songs are taken from the second album, 'The New Order'. And that is it. I do not find anything wrong with the song selection, because they all are, as mentioned, golden oldies. The band have performed them live a lot during years, so that in mind, there could have been a surprise or two thrown in. This clocks at 48 minutes, so there really could have been something extra. Some minor re-arrangements were done, and more notably, the tempo is slower on a couple of tracks. A couple of intros were clipped out for some reason, and I especially hate that the eerie intro of 'Disciples of the Watch' was removed. Like how the fucking well does the intro on 'Burnt Offerings' works..! Some guitar solos sound more jazzy, but that's no wonder as Mr. Skolnick went to play some jazz music after he left the band. Although the sound is 21st century, there are always some things in the songs that were kept similar to the original versions. Just check out to that immortal bass sound on 'Trial by Fire'!

The new interpretations do work, but what could shadow the old ones? Right. However, this is a collection for the fans of Testament and there's absolutely huge energy flowing in the many of the tracks. The fans will surely enjoy this, but this is also one for those who want to check the band out: you really should pick this one up and get thrashed. Hear how METAL MUSIC is done. Let the metal flow!

Rating: 8 (out of 10)

Reviewed by Lane
04/08/2003 18:17

First formed as Legacy between 1983-1986, the band changed their name to Testament in 1986. This best of/compilation features selected tracks taken from their first two releases. The line-up here is Chuck Billy on vocals, Steve "Zetro" Souza on guest vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitars, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar, Steve DiGiorgio on fretless bass and John Tempesta on drums. Not all of the original members were on this compilation. Their former bassist Greg Christian and drummer Louis Clemente were absent from this compilation. Their replacements did a better job than the two previous members. They seemed to exhibit more talent and achieved a better outcome in their execution for these songs.

Thrash metal has always been Testament's genre of music. They've never changed their style even with the line-up changes over the years. So it's safe to say that they never "sold out" like Metallica did. Of course not their entire discography was entirely interesting but at least they stuck to their roots. This best of/compilation was a good idea though because it brought listeners back to where they originally used to be in terms of the selections from the first two releases. Though they cut out some parts from the originals and/or tailored a few riffs, the ingenious songs still held precedent with this newer best of recording.

Songs held much more crunch tone guitar riffs to them with the exception of the introduction of 'Trial by Fire' and 'Burnt Offerings'. They did take out part of 'Disciples of the Watch' but the execution was still well played out by Peterson, et al. These newer recordings I developed a liking to because of the overall intensity of the main riffs, way technical plus reverb enhanced style leads, right on cue drumming and finally, the main vocals as well as the guest vocals. I'd consider this compilation to be very mature and the riff contents to be more fluent than the originals.

All of the tracks that the band selected to be on this compilation were very good choices. Knowing of this band for more than 20 years, I have come to the conclusion that 'First Strike still Deadly' is one hell of a great concoction of remakes. Not a step backward but a better and more fluent examination of the band to see what they seemed to reiterate with these newer thrash metal remakes. The rhythm guitar parts were better than the originals because of their technicality which weren't as affluent as was on the first recordings. Peterson tailored some of the riffs though for the most part his strategies with doing this fit well into a more solid foundation.

The production sound of course was so much more audible and every vocal output as well as the instruments blended very well to form this phenomenal compilation. The leads by Skolnick were of course technical and he enhanced some of his leads by adding reverb to them. That was something different than the originals and in turn fortified the release in an astonishing way. Heavily jazz influenced leads but they mixed well with the rhythm guitar riffs. Everything on this compilation was astonishingly accurate and well executed. The tracks were extravagant and the playing showed how talented this band was during this re-recording.

In terms of the lyrical concepts they seemed to focus mostly on religion, society and suffering. Very intriguing topics and well executed vocal outputs by Billy and guest vocalist Souza. Neither vocalist seemed to exhibit any high pitched screams or yelling at all. It was good that the insert came with the lyrics attached to them because it's difficult to understand Billy's vocal outputs. His style of singing reflects a more rough throat whereas Souza seemed to show a different approach and acquired taste. Both of their efforts fit the music well much more so than on the originals. The songwriting was entirely intelligent and appropriate in accompanying the musical efforts.

It's difficult to understand why many listeners concluded that the original tracks were better than this best of/compilation. There's not a track on here to dislike. The intriguing guitar riff structures were so well compiled to a degree that has kept me listening to this entire compilation numerous times without it ever going stale. This compilation was so amazingly produced and well executed by all contributors. To give this compilation anything less than a perfect rating would do it a great injustice. If you are a fan of vintage thrash metal played to the point of perfection, then do yourself a favor and pick up this best of/compilation.

Rating: 10 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
01/29/2010 12:07