| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING For The Love Of Pain Infanticide A.I. Shadow People Meant To Be High Noon Witch Hunt Nature Of The Beast Room 117 Havana Syndrome Para Bellum Release Date: October 10, 2025 Label: Nuclear Blast Records Website: testamentlegions.com facebook.com/testamentlegions |  |
Let's rewind the clock back to 5 years ago at the start of 2020. You're in a band, you're on tour and about to drop a new album, only to have the world shut down due to a pesky little pandemic, and now you have to wait two years until you can start touring on that album. That's exactly the position that Testament in particular found themselves in at that time (along with several other bands too). They were on tour with Exodus and Death Angel in Europe for The Bay Strikes Back Tour, and the pandemic came crashing down at the end of the tour, causing some of the band and crew to get sick, and even have some of them stranded with travel bans being implemented immediately, and their last album Titans Of Creation was dropping in the spring. There was nothing they could do but play the dreaded waiting game. Fast forward to 2022, the world opened up again, and they could finally go back out on tour. At the time, they were about to come back swinging harder than ever, because after Gene Hoglan announced he was stepping down from the band after 10 years due to heavy scheduling conflicts, they had Dave Lombardo join them on drums for the first time since 1999, much to the delight of all metal fans across the world, and the band themselves. At the time, it looked like this was going to be the lineup going forward, until........
Lombardo then steps down in 2023 for the same reason that Gene stepped down: heavy scheduling conflicts, and they found themselves back in the position of frequent drummer swaps. However, by pure luck, in comes Chris Dovas of Seven Spires, the band's youngest drummer to date, who at 27, is old enough to be any one of the band members' son, but don't let that disparity between the ages become a concern, because he fits right in, and brings the same level of intensity as Gene and Lombardo, and then some. Since returning to the road in 2022, the band was heavily making up for lost time with extensive touring behind Titans Of Creation, as well as new remastered reissues of The Legacy and The New Order. With all the touring, progress on the follow-up to Titans was rather slow, and the projected release windows was met with constant pushbacks. It's worth noting that after four incredibly strong albums released consistently every four years between 2008 and 2020, Testament had their first five-year gap between albums. Now, it's not the longest gap for them, but it's still a long time. However, as we sit here now approaching the final quarter of 2025, Testament's lucky album #13: Para Bellum is finally arriving. Some people will say that it's the fourteenth studio album because of First Strike Still Deadly, but I don't really count that as an official studio album.
The state of the world is the most common theme on albums from metal bands now, especially with the rapid advancement of technology and political corruption, that every time I read a press release for a new album and the theme is the state of the world, it doesn't sound exciting anymore, but it's the gift that keeps on giving, because it serves as the fuel for awesome new music for us to headbang to. That being said, you will no doubt find many subjects surrounding that theme on Para Bellum. One of the biggest subjects over the last couple of years amongst many bands is the trepidation of A.I. wiping out humanity, and that subject is tackled on "Infanticide A.I." as Chuck Billy bluntly warns, "every human will be replaced." While it's the shortest song on the record, clocking in at 3.5 mins, it's one of the most intense with tons of blast beats and black metal style riffing, and a short but sweet solo. This song, along with album opener "For The Love Of Pain" are two prime examples of where the band's black metal dabblings take more center stage, with the thrash sound being a strong support system.
Despite being known as a thrash band, variety has always been one of Testament's strongest suites. In addition to the adrenaline-inducing aggressive thrash numbers mixed with black metal, we get the more groove-laden tracks as well, like "Shadow People", which seems like a potent combination of vibes from The Gathering and The Ritual, while "High Noon" and "Witch Hunt" are two other tracks that would be right at home on The Gathering, and "Room 117" remains in more straightforward territory with effective stomping momentum. The intro to "Nature Of The Beast" made me think I was listening to a Judas Priest song from the recent years, because the riff style and production quality made the song feel like an outtake from Invincible Shield. I was honestly expecting Rob Halford to come in vocally in the verse.
A rather big standout moment is "Meant To Be", the band's first true ballad in many years. Testament have always been masterful in crafting ballads, and this one is no exception. While I still don't think that "Cold Embrace" from Dark Roots Of Earth can be topped, this song feels like the lovechild of that song, along with "The Legacy", with little hints of "Return To Serenity". The use of acoustic guitars and orchestral instruments make this one of the most unique songs in the Testament catalog, but it still packs a punch when the guitars come in and take over with tons of spine-tingling harmonies and emotional passages. If there's one thing that Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick continue to showcase other than their consistently magnificent guitar skills, it's their songwriting skills. The dynamic title track closes out the album in true Testament fashion with groove-laden thrash riffing, beastly vocals and flaming solos, while it ends with a somber clean finger-picked guitar passage, courtesy of Eric.
As time goes on, I'm convinced that Testament found the fountain of youth somewhere along the way because if you went into this record without knowing anything about the band, you wouldn't think this was a record put out by a near-40-year-old band. The band sound young and full of more fire than many bands half their age or more coming out today. Chuck's vocals are in prime form all these years later, Eric and Alex remain one of the most formidable guitar teams of all time, while the rhythm section of Steve DiGiorgio and newcomer Chris Dovas brings as much deadly thunder and attack as any of the band's previous rhythm sections. Para Bellum is further proof that Testament are top notch professors at the university of thrash metal, still schooling many old-schoolers and the young blood with music that is considered a thrash masterclass.
Lombardo then steps down in 2023 for the same reason that Gene stepped down: heavy scheduling conflicts, and they found themselves back in the position of frequent drummer swaps. However, by pure luck, in comes Chris Dovas of Seven Spires, the band's youngest drummer to date, who at 27, is old enough to be any one of the band members' son, but don't let that disparity between the ages become a concern, because he fits right in, and brings the same level of intensity as Gene and Lombardo, and then some. Since returning to the road in 2022, the band was heavily making up for lost time with extensive touring behind Titans Of Creation, as well as new remastered reissues of The Legacy and The New Order. With all the touring, progress on the follow-up to Titans was rather slow, and the projected release windows was met with constant pushbacks. It's worth noting that after four incredibly strong albums released consistently every four years between 2008 and 2020, Testament had their first five-year gap between albums. Now, it's not the longest gap for them, but it's still a long time. However, as we sit here now approaching the final quarter of 2025, Testament's lucky album #13: Para Bellum is finally arriving. Some people will say that it's the fourteenth studio album because of First Strike Still Deadly, but I don't really count that as an official studio album.
The state of the world is the most common theme on albums from metal bands now, especially with the rapid advancement of technology and political corruption, that every time I read a press release for a new album and the theme is the state of the world, it doesn't sound exciting anymore, but it's the gift that keeps on giving, because it serves as the fuel for awesome new music for us to headbang to. That being said, you will no doubt find many subjects surrounding that theme on Para Bellum. One of the biggest subjects over the last couple of years amongst many bands is the trepidation of A.I. wiping out humanity, and that subject is tackled on "Infanticide A.I." as Chuck Billy bluntly warns, "every human will be replaced." While it's the shortest song on the record, clocking in at 3.5 mins, it's one of the most intense with tons of blast beats and black metal style riffing, and a short but sweet solo. This song, along with album opener "For The Love Of Pain" are two prime examples of where the band's black metal dabblings take more center stage, with the thrash sound being a strong support system.
Despite being known as a thrash band, variety has always been one of Testament's strongest suites. In addition to the adrenaline-inducing aggressive thrash numbers mixed with black metal, we get the more groove-laden tracks as well, like "Shadow People", which seems like a potent combination of vibes from The Gathering and The Ritual, while "High Noon" and "Witch Hunt" are two other tracks that would be right at home on The Gathering, and "Room 117" remains in more straightforward territory with effective stomping momentum. The intro to "Nature Of The Beast" made me think I was listening to a Judas Priest song from the recent years, because the riff style and production quality made the song feel like an outtake from Invincible Shield. I was honestly expecting Rob Halford to come in vocally in the verse.
A rather big standout moment is "Meant To Be", the band's first true ballad in many years. Testament have always been masterful in crafting ballads, and this one is no exception. While I still don't think that "Cold Embrace" from Dark Roots Of Earth can be topped, this song feels like the lovechild of that song, along with "The Legacy", with little hints of "Return To Serenity". The use of acoustic guitars and orchestral instruments make this one of the most unique songs in the Testament catalog, but it still packs a punch when the guitars come in and take over with tons of spine-tingling harmonies and emotional passages. If there's one thing that Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick continue to showcase other than their consistently magnificent guitar skills, it's their songwriting skills. The dynamic title track closes out the album in true Testament fashion with groove-laden thrash riffing, beastly vocals and flaming solos, while it ends with a somber clean finger-picked guitar passage, courtesy of Eric.
As time goes on, I'm convinced that Testament found the fountain of youth somewhere along the way because if you went into this record without knowing anything about the band, you wouldn't think this was a record put out by a near-40-year-old band. The band sound young and full of more fire than many bands half their age or more coming out today. Chuck's vocals are in prime form all these years later, Eric and Alex remain one of the most formidable guitar teams of all time, while the rhythm section of Steve DiGiorgio and newcomer Chris Dovas brings as much deadly thunder and attack as any of the band's previous rhythm sections. Para Bellum is further proof that Testament are top notch professors at the university of thrash metal, still schooling many old-schoolers and the young blood with music that is considered a thrash masterclass.
FINAL RATING
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