Kingcrimsonprog After many years of loving Testament’s (and many other Thrash bands’) ‘80s output but being suspicious of anything new, in 2008, Testament blew my mind with their superb The Formation Of Damnation album, it was a real game changer. In 2012 they followed it up with Dark Roots Of The Earth which was also amazing, real album-of-the-year stuff.

Could Testament keep up the hot-streak of superb modern albums, like Exodus have been able to? Or would they have ups and downs like Anthrax and Megadeth have?

2016 saw them release Brotherhood Of The Snake and match all expectations. Yet another winner! The album opens really strongly, with its best two songs ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’ and ‘The Pale King’ but isn’t front-loaded. Side two contains perhaps the hardest tune ‘Centuries Of Suffering’ and the ridiculously catchy and memorable late-album highlight ‘Canna-Business’ (Side note: Not just a typical rock ’n’ roll excess druggy song, but about them de-criminalizing it and using it for medicine).

The production, as with the last two albums, is spot on. Even though Andy Sneap is the best producer for modern albums by ‘80s Metal bands, and isn’t in charge this time (choosing to self-produce instead), they seem to have learned a lot from working with him last time around, and capture much of the same sound and energy.

Unlike some other veteran bands still putting albums out nowadays, Testament don’t let this snake outstay its welcome. At just 10 songs, there’s no filler and no flab. It makes the album much better. There’s no point filling the disc up with more songs and diluting the impact when you can just use only what you need and have a better experience overall. All the songs here are necessary.

The performance out of the band is great. Its precise and technical without loosing the crunch and power. The riffs pummel you and the leads impress. This is not an album that finds you loosing attention or letting your mind wonder.

Expertly produced, savagely played, finely crafted. Brotherhood’ is a firing-on-all-cylinders gem that is everything a Testament album should be… fast, hard, concise, musical and catchy as hell.

siLLy puPPy The Berkeley based TESTAMENT has been a staple in the thrash metal world for more than three decades at this point pumping out an erratic output with their most productive decade having been in the 90s. Deemed as one of the keepers of the old guard of the thrash metal scene that began in the 80s and gently crept into the following decades, the band has had a scant offering in the 21st century. Finally in the year 2017, TESTAMENT finally released a much anticipated 11th album BROTHERHOOD OF THE SNAKE which delves into the world of ancient alien astronauts inspired by the Ancient Aliens TV program that ponders the possibilities of all the possible alternative historical realities withheld from humanity regarding their true origins. Throughout their lengthy metal history guitarist Eric Peterson has been the only constant member since the band’s inception and on this 2017 release the band finds a somewhat stable lineup returning for this new album with only newbie bassist Steve Di Giorgio replacing Greg Christian. It also sees the return of long time (well five albums anyway) mixer and engineer Andy Sneap who has been a behind-the-scenes contributor to the overall production path that TESTAMENT has trod.

BROTHERHOOD OF THE SNAKE has indeed been a commercial success for TESTAMENT which debuted at number 20 on the Billboard charts, however it is in effect another predictable thrash-by-the-numbers release by the band with the obvious Metallica influences that never seem to totally go away. While not quite a member of the big four of the founders of the influential thrash metal of the 80s, TESTAMENT has however made quite the career out of emulating their heroes who pioneered the genre who came before them. In all honesty, i have never been the hugest of TESTAMENT fans due to the fact that they are simply too derivative of early Metallica and despite their heroes having abandoned their pioneering sound in favor of a more commercial alternative one, TESTAMENT have not only run away with keeping that old school thrash metal sound alive but have nurtured it and incubated it in a way that very few other metal bands have.

TESTAMENT has always been a hit-and-miss band for me. I really hate their early albums as they are unapologetically mere clones of “Master Of Puppets” era Metallica with the largest derivative elements finding their way into the guitar riffs and vocals. Being a sensitive musician, i cannot stand these kinds of ripoffs that may not be obvious to the casual listener and i’m perplexed as to how this band has become so popular despite these obvious ripoffs of style. Come 1999 and TESTAMENT redeemed themselves as having the creds of actually releasing interesting and original material with “The Gathering.” It seemed as if the band had finally found their own niche in the burgeoning world of thrash metal even if it retained its old school roots, however BROTHERHOOD OF THE SNAKE is somewhat of a mixed bag of the two different eras of the TESTAMENT experience. While the title track starts off as some of the heaviest and distinct material the band has ever released, the majority of the following tracks reek of James Hatfield vocalizations, classic Metallica riffing accompanied by solos and an eminent sense of been-there-done-that-before-isms that just rub me totally the wrong way in every way.

There are several bands from the same era who are keepers of the old school thrash metal scene including not only TESTAMENT but also Overkill, Kreator, Slayer and Obituary just to name a few but while the majority of these bands were successful in finding their own distinct sound, TESTAMENT simply sounds like an incessant tug-of-war between sounding like Metallica and trying NOT to sound like Metallica which drives me fucking crazy and constantly reminding me that this band is totally overrated for simply parasitically siphoning off other artist’s ideas. Metallica the most obvious influence but they also have no problem borrowing from Pantera (“The Pale King”), Megadeth (“Neptune’s Spear”) and a whole slew of others. I simply don’t understand the popularity of TESTAMENT when they continue to steal eggs from other’s baskets. While i have been quite impressed with TESTAMENT in the past with albums such as “The Gathering” and “The Formation Of Damnation,” i simply find BROTHERHOOD OF THE SNAKE to be a cash cow sort of attempt to back pedal into the TESTAMENT origins and pretend that no one is noticing. Yeah, i love the subject matter and lyrics but the music is just ridiculously second rate despite being exquisitely performed. Careful listeners will note that the track “Canna-Business” is even ripping off riffs from Marilyn Manson. Just check out the song “1996” from the album “Antichrist Superstar” and listen carefully to the vocal phrasing of the chorus. Sorry TESTAMENT, you jumped the shark with this one.

UMUR "Brotherhood Of The Snake" is the 11th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Testament. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in October 2016. It´s the successor to "Dark Roots of Earth" from 2012. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Greg Christian has been replaced by Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Iced Earth). The latter also played with Testament from 1998 to 2004, so he´s not an unfamiliar face for the fans. The remaining members of the lineup are Chuck Billy (vocals), Alex Skolnick (guitar), Eric Peterson (guitar), and Gene Hoglan (drums).

There has been much talk about "Brotherhood Of The Snake" being written and recorded faster than the band originally planned, but if this is how a "rushed" effort by Testament sounds, I wish they would be even more spontaneous in the future, because "Brotherhood Of The Snake" has turned out a really strong release. It´s sharp, heavy, organic, and memorable thrash metal, and it´s not at all as one-dimensional as some reviews may have you believe. Testament skillfully add both melody and dark atmosphere to their edgy thrash metal riffing and rhythms, and Chuck Billy delivers a strong and varied vocal performance.

The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, but in addition to Billy´s strong vocal performance I´d like to give a special mention to Alex Skolnick. While Eric Peterson wrote most of the basic tracks for the album, Skolnick´s lead guitar parts really spice the material up and add an extra dimension to the music. He is an incredibly skilled guitar player, who perfectly understands how to balance fierce shredding with gorgeous melodic moments. Gene Hoglan is of course always worth a mention too, and his performance here is another demonstration of his amazing drumming skills.

As for the material on the 10 track, 45:26 minutes long album it´s well written and memorable. There are several strong tracks on the album, but it´s the consistency of quality and style, which is the real winner here. There´s simply not a single sub par track on the album. When that is said I still have to mention "The Pale King" as a standout track on "Brotherhood Of The Snake". That one is bound to be a future Testament classic.

"Brotherhood Of The Snake" features a powerful, sharp, and detailed sound production, and upon conclusion this is an album which features all the elements for success. One asset I haven´t mentioned above is that Testament don´t sound old and tired, which sometimes happens to artists this far into their career. On the contrary they sound both inspired and hungry, which has great impact on the performance of the material. It´s things like that which make a world of difference between the really great artists and the not so great ones. A 4 star (80%) rating is well deserved.