Nuclear Blast
2012
1. Rise Up
2. Native Blood
3. Dark Roots Of Earth
4. True American Hate
5. A Day In The Death
6. Cold Embrace
7. Man Kills Mankind
8. Throne Of Thorns
9. Last Stand For Independence
I always like to kind of level with people reading when I write a review. I tend to kind of give my impressions regarding a band going in to say what perspective the review is coming out of. Lets face it, we all have those bands we love or hate, think are overrated or underrated.
Well I'll tell you right now I've always thought Testament are completely overrated. Yes they have a good guitarist in Skolnick and as such the band is not technically lacking in the guitar department, but I've always found the songwriting spotty. I also don't get the praise for Chuck Billy who used to be OK, but has had some fairly shitty attempts in modern years of making his voice sound heavier/more extreme. Just my opinion of course, but there you have it. You can imagine my expectations weren't extremely high going in and this is not really a 'fan' review from the start. I'm not really the type to buy into a band just because they're a 'classic' or others think they're great.
All that being said, Dark Roots Of Earth strikes me as pretty decent. One of my bigger gripes with Testament is when they try to get more 'extreme' as they're not particularly good at it IMO and that's fairly limited here. For the most part Billy gos for a more melodic heaviness and the leads follow suit. When the guitar finds a good upbeat pace and a balance between heaviness and melody things can get pretty good. There certainly are moments that remind me of earlier, more noteworthy albums like The Legacy and Practice What You Preach. When things find that sort of a balance this strikes me as pretty competent, if still not Amazing thrash.
My gripes with this album once again come in the form of songwriting however. There are certainly good songs which have a classic thrash energy like the first couple of tracks, Rise Up and Native Blood and also album closer Last Stand For Independence. Unfortunately, there are also tracks which just don't seem to have an energetic enough pace and get a bit plodding like Dark Roots Of Earth and A Day In Death. These songs are a perfect example of why sometimes I just can't get invested. They don't sound Bad, but they don't really attack in the way I generally like my thrash to either. Then there's the semi ballad Cold Embrace which I also find a little on the dull side. On the other extreme you have True American Hate where the vocals get a bit rougher and the approach a bit more modern. This sort of track isn't really what I'm looking for either and reminds me of a middle of the road, more recent Exodus track. None of these tracks are terrible, but neither do they draw me in and make me want to listen to them again.
Overall, Testament have not come up with a bad album here. Certainly, I've heard worse. Has this changed my mind and made me regard them as anywhere near the top of the thrash heap though? No not really. Pretty middle of the road thrash in my book and not something I see myself listening to often or really pretty much ever. There are just bands who deliver better thrashing as far as I'm concerned.
Highlights: Native Blood, Rise Up
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Native Blood
3. Dark Roots Of Earth
4. True American Hate
5. A Day In The Death
6. Cold Embrace
7. Man Kills Mankind
8. Throne Of Thorns
9. Last Stand For Independence
I always like to kind of level with people reading when I write a review. I tend to kind of give my impressions regarding a band going in to say what perspective the review is coming out of. Lets face it, we all have those bands we love or hate, think are overrated or underrated.
Well I'll tell you right now I've always thought Testament are completely overrated. Yes they have a good guitarist in Skolnick and as such the band is not technically lacking in the guitar department, but I've always found the songwriting spotty. I also don't get the praise for Chuck Billy who used to be OK, but has had some fairly shitty attempts in modern years of making his voice sound heavier/more extreme. Just my opinion of course, but there you have it. You can imagine my expectations weren't extremely high going in and this is not really a 'fan' review from the start. I'm not really the type to buy into a band just because they're a 'classic' or others think they're great.
All that being said, Dark Roots Of Earth strikes me as pretty decent. One of my bigger gripes with Testament is when they try to get more 'extreme' as they're not particularly good at it IMO and that's fairly limited here. For the most part Billy gos for a more melodic heaviness and the leads follow suit. When the guitar finds a good upbeat pace and a balance between heaviness and melody things can get pretty good. There certainly are moments that remind me of earlier, more noteworthy albums like The Legacy and Practice What You Preach. When things find that sort of a balance this strikes me as pretty competent, if still not Amazing thrash.
My gripes with this album once again come in the form of songwriting however. There are certainly good songs which have a classic thrash energy like the first couple of tracks, Rise Up and Native Blood and also album closer Last Stand For Independence. Unfortunately, there are also tracks which just don't seem to have an energetic enough pace and get a bit plodding like Dark Roots Of Earth and A Day In Death. These songs are a perfect example of why sometimes I just can't get invested. They don't sound Bad, but they don't really attack in the way I generally like my thrash to either. Then there's the semi ballad Cold Embrace which I also find a little on the dull side. On the other extreme you have True American Hate where the vocals get a bit rougher and the approach a bit more modern. This sort of track isn't really what I'm looking for either and reminds me of a middle of the road, more recent Exodus track. None of these tracks are terrible, but neither do they draw me in and make me want to listen to them again.
Overall, Testament have not come up with a bad album here. Certainly, I've heard worse. Has this changed my mind and made me regard them as anywhere near the top of the thrash heap though? No not really. Pretty middle of the road thrash in my book and not something I see myself listening to often or really pretty much ever. There are just bands who deliver better thrashing as far as I'm concerned.
Highlights: Native Blood, Rise Up
Rating - 3.0/5
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