TESTAMENT — The New Order (review)

TESTAMENT — The New Order album cover Album · 1988 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
1.5/5 ·
Vim Fuego
Testament is often considered one of the second tier of thrash bands, behind the big four of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. In the shadow of the big four, the likes of Testament, Exodus, Forbidden, and Overkill struggled to gain the recognition of their more famous peers. But it never came. For the likes of Exodus, it was a travesty. For Testament, it was never going to happen– they simply weren't good enough.

Before all the old school thrash fans out there call for my head on a spike so crows can pick my dead staring eyes from their sockets, let me explain. Testament was and is a good band, but never reached beyond that level in the 1980s. ‘The New Order’ is a good example of why. On first listen, it has all the ingredients of a good thrash album, but a few hours later, you're struggling to remember any of it. Put simply, Testament as a whole were poor songwriters back in the 1980s. The riffing is solid, but unimpressive. Alex Skolnick's leads are adequate, but not dazzling. Chuck Billy's vocals are flat, and poorly executed in places. The song lyrics are standard, middle–of–the–road thrash fare. All seems "good", but nothing is "great", so promotion to the major leagues never came.

Testament were often unfairly labelled Metallica clones. Unfortunately, many media at the time had no idea about thrash metal beyond Metallica or Slayer, so bands were generally compared to one or the other of them. Testament had their own sound. Listen to "Disciples Of The Watch", the best song on the album. The bass was audible. The rhythm and lead guitars were quite different to Metallica's sound. And Louis Clemente ran rings around Lars Ulrich when it came to drum technique and skill. Unfortunately, it just did not seem to gel on the rest of the album. It is like tomato sauce, ice cream and beer– all fine on their own, but mixed together? Not appetising at all.

This album is probably of interest as a history piece today, but you would not use it to show someone how good thrash was back in the 80s. It is simply too mediocre for that.
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voila_la_scorie wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Disciples of the Watch is the only song I ever liked and still remember 29 years later.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I find Testament overrated. I recently revisited their earlier works and i find it boring and derivative. Their newer releases are better IMHO :)
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I actually think it´s their best album. But as I´m not much of a Testament fan, that doesn´t say much.
Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I was meaning sound-wise, not the riffs.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Unfairly labelled a Metallica clone? I can easily pick out which riffs are from which "Masters of Puppets" tracks. Clones all the way

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