Testament Brotherhood Of The Snake.

Anyone else pick this one up? It's really good! I can't stop spinning it.

Gotta check it out soon. Been hearing it's extremely good stuff.

Only 1 other Testament fan left here?

After a couple spins of this album on Spotify, I went and bought it. To me, it's now my 2nd favorite by Testament only behind The Ritual. Man, old-school thrash metal had one heck of a year with Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica, Metal Church releasing solid albums and now this gem.

I agree, its definitely a good year for old school thrash. Not sure where this album lands for me, Testament has some pretty killer albums. It's a strong one though, for sure.

Super good album right up there with their strongest stuff, IMO.  Chuck has some intonation problems in a few parts on a couple of cuts, but everything else about it is outstanding.  Gene's drumming is no small part of the abundant energy.

I'm going to have to check this out. The only Testament album I have is "Practice What You Preach." I did like the samples I heard, though.

Lyrics aside, this is a very strong album from Testament. Its good to see Testament put out such consistently good metal.

sentient 6 wrote:Lyrics aside, this is a very strong album from Testament. Its good to see Testament put out such consistently good metal.

Same here. Love the music, not a fan of the lyrics.

What's the deal with the lyrics?

The album rocks! I can't stop listening to it at work and at home. There is not a single bad song on the album.

metaldude wrote:... Love the music, not a fan of the lyrics.

I have to admit when I get something wrong and I got it wrong here. I formed a knee-jerk opinion without enough information on which to base that opinion. After taking a look at the lyrics, not only do I not have a problem with the album, but I also found a Biblical song on the album, Seven Seals. In the end, my opinion probably only matters to me, but I felt I should correct my earlier post.

metaldude wrote:

metaldude wrote:... Love the music, not a fan of the lyrics.

I have to admit when I get something wrong and I got it wrong here. I formed a knee-jerk opinion without enough information on which to base that opinion. After taking a look at the lyrics, not only do I not have a problem with the album, but I also found a Biblical song on the album, Seven Seals. In the end, my opinion probably only matters to me, but I felt I should correct my earlier post.

I was going to bring up "Seven Seals" but was too lazy...glad you checked back in!

The lyrics are supposed to be based on a real group, thus Brotherhood. 
Musically it's not up to the last two but still high quality imo.

TheOldMan2084 wrote:What's the deal with the lyrics?

Not sure about the concept of the lyrics. My comment was mainly to say that my critique was base on the music and not the lyrics.

Without having dug too much into the lyrics they seem to be about some kind of cult.

xMetalMarkx wrote:
I was going to bring up "Seven Seals" but was too lazy...glad you checked back in!

Secular bands will a lot of times use biblical concepts and imagery to bring a sense of good vs evil that's actually rooted in substance.

....but I never listen to them in the sense that I am getting Holy Spirit inspired teaching ( unless they actually are ).

This is good enough to be classic right there with later classics such Low, The Gathering and Formation of Damnation.

As good as this album is, it got pretty exhausting to get through. I think it could have used a slower, more atmospheric track to give a sense of dynamics, and to give the listener a chance to catch breath. Something like Cold Embrace from the last disc.

Testament has long been my favorite secular thrash band, and this is a very good album, though not their best, or even in the top three for me.  Low, Practice What You Preach, and Formation of Damnation would likely be top 3 for me, but this new one is easily top five, and maybe top 4.


Arttie

I could live with that top 3 but after Practice it's hard for me to pick favorites.