Thrash. Thrash. And more thrash.
Testament’s third their return at the back end of the last decade, “Brotherhood Of The Snake” has a lot to live up to.
After all, “The Formation Of Damnation” and 2012’s “Dark Roots Of The Earth” have been so good they have rather reminded a generation of metal fans that if the big 4 was a big 5, then it is very likely to Testament would be in their shouting for the right to be the fifth (granted Exodus might be in there having a punt too, but you get the point) indeed, as their shows this summer showed, Testament remain a fearsome proposition.
One which stays steadfastly true – these days at least – to their roots, and so it is that “….Snake” is resolutely a thrash record. It doesn’t want to be anything else, and it does it very well. It doesn’t matter, really, where you dip into it, you will find something that belongs in the moshipit, beating the crap out of you with its horns up. In the case of a couple of them, notably the chugging “Seven Seals” and the abrasive “Neptune’s Spear” it appears too, that Chuck and the boys have unleashed their inner Metallica, if you will.
It begins in the fashion it stays throughout, pretty much. The title track could appear on any record at any point in the history of this type of music and sound just right. Nothing more and nothing less than timeless thrash metal it sets the tone and nothing messes with the formula too greatly.
“The Pale King” seethes with all kinds of anger, “Stronghold” is four-minute study in aggression as Billy spits the rhetoric and Alex Skolnick plays guitar as only he can on a song of vital importance in the lead-up to the US Election, while “Born In A Rut” is frustrated and in a glorious rage.
So far so thrash. “Centuries Of Suffering” repeats the dose all over again, while “Canna Business” is ringing endorsement of what Ozzy would call the sweet leaf, if you follow, or (“the medicine that’s growing wild” if you don’t.
The almost marching band drum beat that ushers in closing tune “The Number Game” gives way to some machine gun riffery and provides things a fittingly flailing conclusion and this – like so many of its brethren – is going to sound superb live.
By and large another fine record from Testament, there’s just one or two filler songs that stop it being an outright classic – and if you want us to name name’s then they are capable of so much better than “Black Jack” – but “Brotherhood Of The Snake” is a superior collection of nasty, thought provoking thrash metal.
Rating 7.5/10
