Written by Alex
After releasing their crushing comeback album The Formation Of Damnation in 2008, Bay Area thrash masters Testament return with an even heavier and more crushing album entitled Dark Roots Of Earth. Writing for the album began in 2009, while the band was still touring behind theFormation album. The album's original release was scheduled to be in late 2010 or early 2011, however the band kept receiving show and tour offers that they couldn't refuse, so the album's release kept getting pushed back, and the final confirmed release was July 2012.
Drummer Paul Bostaph who played with the band on the Formation album was scheduled to perform on the new album, but revealed that he had to sit out for the recording due to a serious arm injury, and the band announced that former drummer Gene Hoglan, who played drums on the Demonic album in 1997, would be playing drums on the new album. Chris Adler from Lamb Of God also provided drum tracks for the album playing on two bonus tracks. It was anticipated that Bostaph would return to the band by the time Testament hit the road for a tour with Anthrax and Death Angel in fall 2011, but still sat out due to his injury, and the band recruited Hoglan for the tour. Former drummer John Tempesta played with the band on the first few shows of the tour, before the band completed the tour with Hoglan. In December 2011, Bostaph officially announced that he left Testament due to commitments with his new project BlackGates. Hoglan continues to provide his services on the drums for Testament as of today.
Dark Roots Of Earth features longer songs than on Testament's previous albums, with some songs reaching close to the 8 minute mark. Hoglan shines brightly on this album with his precise and technical blast beat skills, which takes Testament's sound to a new level. The album's opener "Rise Up" is destined to be a crowd favourite mainly due to Chuck Billy's commanding lyrics which he yells with his throaty vocals "WHEN I SAY RISE UP, YOU SAY WAR!", and also features some of Eric Peterson's most powerful sounding thrashy riffs. The second track and the album's official single "Native Blood" is a song where Chuck talks about his Native heritage, and it features just about everything you can expect from Testament, which are giant sounding riffs from Eric Peterson, mix of melodic and harsh vocals from Chuck, and a highly intricate and musical solo from Alex Skolnick.
The title track is one of the mid-pacers on the album. It's probably Testament's heaviest and darkest sounding song to date which features gang chants and some serious hooks. The riffs and the drums have the vibes of "The Thing That Should Not Be" by Metallica and Black Sabbath's "Sign Of The Southern Cross". Track 4 entitled "True American Hate" is Testament's fastest and most pissed-off sounding song ever with lyrics that talk about young American kids going out and burning American flags and their parents right by their side roaring them on. Chuck's throaty vocals on this song sound as evil as ever, and Alex's solo is as blistering as his solos on the early Testament albums. This track, mixed with Gene's insane blast beat drumming, Chuck's evil vocals and Eric's massive thrashy riffs, is like the sound of the apocalypse. Track 5 entitled "A Day In The Death" was recorded in two versions, with both Hoglan and Adler providing drums on the track. The intro bass licks that Greg Christian delivers are massive and really groovy.
Track 6 entitled "Cold Embrace" is a ballad. Testament hasn't done a ballad since the song Trail Of Tears on the Low album in 1994. The concept has a bit of a Twilight twist to it, where it talks about a girl that becomes a vampire and isn't able to see the sun again, as mentioned by Chuck Billy in an interview. Every ballad that Testament wrote is amazing, and "Cold Embrace" has just been added to that list and will remain on the list for many years to come. It gives the listener a chance to settle down and recharge his batteries after hearing the first five songs of sheer brutality. The album's closer "Last Stand For Independence" has the feel of Henchmen Ride off the Formation Of Damnation with a gallopping rhythm and pummeling vocals throughout the entire track.
Funny story that I must mention. Every April Fool's Day, Metalunderground.com posts fake and funny news updates. This past April Fool's Day, the website posted an April Fool's update which said that Testament have pushed back the release of this album to early 2013. I actually believed that one because Testament have always said that they are really picky about the type of record they want to make. They want to make sure that every record they make will make all their fans beyond pleased with the final result. I didn't think for a moment that they could top Formation Of Damnation because that to me was the heaviest record I have ever heard, but after hearing Dark Roots Of Earth, I can simply say that they have definitely topped themselves. Wake up world because Bay Area thrash masters have returned and they are back to RULE. Buy this album NOW!!!!!
After releasing their crushing comeback album The Formation Of Damnation in 2008, Bay Area thrash masters Testament return with an even heavier and more crushing album entitled Dark Roots Of Earth. Writing for the album began in 2009, while the band was still touring behind theFormation album. The album's original release was scheduled to be in late 2010 or early 2011, however the band kept receiving show and tour offers that they couldn't refuse, so the album's release kept getting pushed back, and the final confirmed release was July 2012.
Drummer Paul Bostaph who played with the band on the Formation album was scheduled to perform on the new album, but revealed that he had to sit out for the recording due to a serious arm injury, and the band announced that former drummer Gene Hoglan, who played drums on the Demonic album in 1997, would be playing drums on the new album. Chris Adler from Lamb Of God also provided drum tracks for the album playing on two bonus tracks. It was anticipated that Bostaph would return to the band by the time Testament hit the road for a tour with Anthrax and Death Angel in fall 2011, but still sat out due to his injury, and the band recruited Hoglan for the tour. Former drummer John Tempesta played with the band on the first few shows of the tour, before the band completed the tour with Hoglan. In December 2011, Bostaph officially announced that he left Testament due to commitments with his new project BlackGates. Hoglan continues to provide his services on the drums for Testament as of today.
Dark Roots Of Earth features longer songs than on Testament's previous albums, with some songs reaching close to the 8 minute mark. Hoglan shines brightly on this album with his precise and technical blast beat skills, which takes Testament's sound to a new level. The album's opener "Rise Up" is destined to be a crowd favourite mainly due to Chuck Billy's commanding lyrics which he yells with his throaty vocals "WHEN I SAY RISE UP, YOU SAY WAR!", and also features some of Eric Peterson's most powerful sounding thrashy riffs. The second track and the album's official single "Native Blood" is a song where Chuck talks about his Native heritage, and it features just about everything you can expect from Testament, which are giant sounding riffs from Eric Peterson, mix of melodic and harsh vocals from Chuck, and a highly intricate and musical solo from Alex Skolnick.
The title track is one of the mid-pacers on the album. It's probably Testament's heaviest and darkest sounding song to date which features gang chants and some serious hooks. The riffs and the drums have the vibes of "The Thing That Should Not Be" by Metallica and Black Sabbath's "Sign Of The Southern Cross". Track 4 entitled "True American Hate" is Testament's fastest and most pissed-off sounding song ever with lyrics that talk about young American kids going out and burning American flags and their parents right by their side roaring them on. Chuck's throaty vocals on this song sound as evil as ever, and Alex's solo is as blistering as his solos on the early Testament albums. This track, mixed with Gene's insane blast beat drumming, Chuck's evil vocals and Eric's massive thrashy riffs, is like the sound of the apocalypse. Track 5 entitled "A Day In The Death" was recorded in two versions, with both Hoglan and Adler providing drums on the track. The intro bass licks that Greg Christian delivers are massive and really groovy.
Track 6 entitled "Cold Embrace" is a ballad. Testament hasn't done a ballad since the song Trail Of Tears on the Low album in 1994. The concept has a bit of a Twilight twist to it, where it talks about a girl that becomes a vampire and isn't able to see the sun again, as mentioned by Chuck Billy in an interview. Every ballad that Testament wrote is amazing, and "Cold Embrace" has just been added to that list and will remain on the list for many years to come. It gives the listener a chance to settle down and recharge his batteries after hearing the first five songs of sheer brutality. The album's closer "Last Stand For Independence" has the feel of Henchmen Ride off the Formation Of Damnation with a gallopping rhythm and pummeling vocals throughout the entire track.
Funny story that I must mention. Every April Fool's Day, Metalunderground.com posts fake and funny news updates. This past April Fool's Day, the website posted an April Fool's update which said that Testament have pushed back the release of this album to early 2013. I actually believed that one because Testament have always said that they are really picky about the type of record they want to make. They want to make sure that every record they make will make all their fans beyond pleased with the final result. I didn't think for a moment that they could top Formation Of Damnation because that to me was the heaviest record I have ever heard, but after hearing Dark Roots Of Earth, I can simply say that they have definitely topped themselves. Wake up world because Bay Area thrash masters have returned and they are back to RULE. Buy this album NOW!!!!!
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