Testament: Great thrash or tinny dirge?

Testament, IMO, was the truest thrash metal band to have ever been formed.  Although they did do some stuff with death metal, they never really strayed from their thrash roots, and I respect that a lot *coughmetallicacough*.

The only problem with Testament was that they were never really extraordinary to begin with.  They were consistent all across the board, yes, but to that extent, a lot of their music was just sorta... meh.  Good, but not great.  Their standoff moments were few and far between, unlike their contemporaries Megadeth and still-then-thrash-Metallica, who had hit after hit with their discography.
Granted, Testament still has their moments.  The Formation of Damnation is one of my favorite thrash metal albums, and albums like The Gathering and Practice What You Preach are both excellent as well.

Still exploring the realms of Testament for now... but from what I've heard, thier older stuff is better. As for production, it's not something I care much about, it's the songs that matter to me.

Jesus . . .
How old are you "Kids" ?

Come on, they were HUGE back in the day. the 1st 3 albums are classics, but put yourself back in that time. Not till "Obituary" did some figure out how to "mic" double bass drums to get the cuncussion out of them!
Yes "Tinny" because Thrash was NEW and so was the engineering for it, who did they have to copy?
These were among the 1st Thrashers to be more than fast, they were technical and were very good musicians.
Like most of the originals, newer bands come along to "one-up" the previous bands and take the music to new hieghts, Production, Engineering and Technology finally catches up and even CRAPPY bands sound better (notice I say "sound" better).
I give a lot of credit to them, Billy has gone through alot himself, almost dieing, having a Benifit Concert/ Metal Fest for him, that doubled for Schuldiner (The 2 "Chucks"), Alex Skolnick leaving to persue his Fusion/Prog needs for creativity, the Band breaking up, reforming . . . and still at it. 
I can think of a TON of Bands that are doing it for "Lifestyle Maintenance" or just sounding as shitty as ever.  I do believe these guys are doing it for the Love of it.  I dont think they were really "Aggro", because they always did solos (if I'm not mistaken), a bit more technical, and Chuck made the change to "sing" cookie vocals because it was the time and probably easier to sing that way (as he gets older).
These among many others I need to get their catalogue, I think they are among the greats and many wouldnt be here if it wasnt for the "Big 20".

Its just my opinion though .


Edited by MAVIIIVAM - 23 Apr 2010 at 9:43pm

I've never liked Testament. I haven't heard all of their albums but from what I have heard they sound pretty weak to me.

They released some good albums thoughout their career.  Very consistent output, though I don't know if they have any "essential" recordings.  Haven't put much thought into it.  My favorite album of theirs is probably Low.  I don't listen to them much these days, and I can't get into their latest album.  I just haven't been into thrash metal in general lately.