TESTAMENT – First Strike Still Deadly

Now here’s a title I truly can stand by! The best ever thrash metal band, Bay Area’s Testament, have re-entered the studio in order to improve and freshen up the classic material from their two first releases; “The Legacy” and “The New Order”. Did they succeed? Well, how can you improve the best there is? In fact, in a way it’s right to say; yes, they did! Eric Peterson and Chuck Billy have simply stayed pretty much loyal to the classic versions. The bass and drums are of course a little different, but you still have the old foot going, or neck swinging, or body slamming to the wall, I don’t know how you prefer to do it. The wall of rhythm guitars sounds massive, and Chuck does an impressive job. He doesn’t sing high pitched on “Over The Wall” (“…that beckons me…”), which is hm hm, but that’s the only thing I can remark. The selected songs for “First Strike…” will never be good enough as long as any of the tracks from these two CD’s are left out – but I can’t really take a point off because of that. Original singer Steve Souza guests on “Alone In The Dark” and “Reign Of Terror” while Skolnick (last seen with Trans-Siberian Orchestra) is back on guitar, at least for the solos. Though he claims himself that his old band mates didn’t use the right takes, he sounds brilliant. Alex was, and still is, a technical wonder, and he always added that extra flavor to the band that made Testament even more unique – along with Eric’s riffs and Chuck’s cool voice. First strike will always be deadly – prepare to die!