The Formation of Damnation is the 2008 release-- the first Testament studio album of all new material in nine years. This is the first Testament album to feature Alex Skolnick on guitar since 1992's The Ritual, also the first to feature bassist Greg Christian since 1994's Low. Testament are an US thrash metal band from California. Some of their records entered the charts in major markets such as the UK and Germany. Testament has two Top 40 albums and one Top 50 album to its credit in the UK. Their 1999 album The Gathering also entered the Top 50 in Germany. They had minor top 100 album success in the United States. Album Description
 |  | Doesn't get much metaller... |  |
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.
This album is full of crushing riffs, spine-tingling solos, wicked time changes, thunderous drumwork, and of course Chuck Billy's oh-so-metal vocals, proving that his recent health problems fortunately haven't claimed his mighty voice. Cool lyrics too, with a lot of interesting spiritual themes. The lyrical topics are plenty "metal" without ever being lame or cheesy. I like that, personally.
Yeah, there's really not too much to analyze here. This is just expertly crafted metal done as few can. Fun and heavy but still sophisticated, very modern but still plenty of classic metal influence. What more can you ask for?
September 22, 2008| | | One Of The best thrash bands going today! | |
Since their formation Testament has always delivered and brutal assault of trash to the fans and have yet to compromize their sound which gains great respect along the lines of Slayer. Awesome bands amazing new album!
September 21, 2008| | | Unlike Metallicas new cd this one rocks | |
I never thought I see the day when I would be writing a review praising Testament over Metallica. I liked Testament back in the days, but I loved Metallica almost as much as Slayer, but Metallica lost it, they sold out, I just received my Testament cd from amazon and I was amazed, these guys still know how to rock, they're not washed up like our boys that can't live up to their name. This is Metal at it's finest, I caught these guys at the Metal Masters tour and I would pay to see them again and again. After hearing some of the new Metallica tracks on Sirius, I would not take "Death" for free, sorry boys it's time to hang up the gloves. Testaments new cd should be call The formation of Domination instead, cause they dominate with Damnation. I thought after Pantera the only survivors in Metal were Slayer, but Testament has made a believer out of me. They sure practiced what they preached
September 20, 2008| | | The New Order Will Prevail With The Power of Damnation | |
What more can I spill out other than, Testament reigns supreme! Sure, Metallica unleashed a good one with "Death Magnetic" but Testament do it all so much more naturally. They never wavered (Chuck and Eric kept the forge stoked) and never sold out (unlike other so-called heroes of the day). "Formation" is all that we expected and more. With Alex, Greg and Bostaph on board, there's no stopping this juggernaut of thrash!
September 19, 2008 | | old-school bay-area thrash band going through the motions... | |
well, I am probably going to catch hell for saying this, but I was somewhat underwhelmed by this release. but I have to call it as I see it- I am not one of those fans who will automatically give 5 stars "just because." while the band is in top form, and the production is good, in my opinion, there aren't any memorable songs here. it's full-on heavy, but that's it. there's no "feel" to it. it's just heavy for the sake of being heavy. there's a lot of heavy stuff that has "feel" to it (go back and listen to older testament and you will understand what I mean), but in this case, i'm just not getting the vibe. with skolnick and petersen reuniting, I was hoping for the great riffs you'd expect whenever those two team up. but the riffs that just stick in your head (think "into the pit" or "burnt offerings") weren't there. ditto the leads. skolnick shreds, but again, there is just nothing memorable. there is some great, albeit generic, drumming from bostaph, as you'd expect (louie who?). just your standard rapid-fire thrash drumming. I do believe their best stuff is definitely behind them. it's great that testament is back and maintaining a presence on the scene, but their older stuff is definitely what carries them. if you are a hardcore fan, you will buy this regardless, but if you are new to testament, I would recommend their earlier stuff. this is one of those discs that you listen to and when it's over, you say to yourself, "so this is it?" not horrible, but not great by any stretch of the imagination. this is an old-school bay-area thrash band just going through the motions.
September 18, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(75 reviews)