Quick: name the bands that make up the \u201cBig Four\u201d of thrash metal.<\/p>\n
Okay, that was too easy\u2026 Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.<\/p>\n
Now, then\u2026 name the \u201cBig Eight\u201d. Chances are everyone\u2019s lists will contain at least one different band, but the Bay Area\u2019s Testament is undoubtedly on most people\u2019s. For nearly four decades and countless lineup changes, they have been making heads slam into the concrete and enjoying nearly every minute of it.<\/p>\n
Was that greatness evident on their 1987 debut The Legacy<\/i> (the title a subtle nod to the band\u2019s previous name)? Again, it all depends on who you talk to\u2026 but, in this case, you\u2019re talking to me. (And, to the band: sorry it\u2019s taken me 35 years to review this one, but I\u2019m a habitual procrastinator\u2026 I just finally paid Columbia House the penny I owed them for those 12 record albums in 1981.)<\/p>\n
Chuck Billy and crew, in many ways, were fortunate to be in what I view as the second wave of thrash metal in the US. They had the roads paved for them by bands such as Metallica and Slayer, but also had enough of a free rein to create their own version of the genre. Indeed, if you listen to some of the guitar lines traded by Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson, especially in songs like \u201cThe Haunting,\u201d there are elements of progressive rock hidden deep within the heavily distorted instrumentation.<\/p>\n
While The Legacy<\/i> doesn\u2019t try to simply play the fastest kind of thrash metal just to say they\u2019ve done so (which is a relief), there do sometimes seem to be moments where a lower-key approach to the tempos might have worked to the band\u2019s benefit \u2013 especially in terms of Billy\u2019s vocals. Take \u201cRaging Waters,\u201d for example. There are times where it feels like he\u2019s trying to fit the lyrics into a concise 30-second snippet \u2013 which tends to create a vocal mush. (For that matter, producer Alex Perialas could have cut back on some of the echo, which also muddies the vocals.)<\/p>\n
The thing is, Testament was entirely capable of achieving this. \u201cAlone In The Dark\u201d is a prime example of this, and it is done extremely well. There\u2019s plenty of room for every band member to shine, all backing a well-written, well produced song. If only there were a few more moments like this.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not that the balls-to-the-wall approach towards the music isn\u2019t the right idea for Testament, either. \u201cC.O.T.L.O.D.\u201d is a prime, if short, example of that. Skolnick has been recognized by many as one of the best guitarists in the metal genre; songs like this cement his legacy.<\/p>\n
Now, there are undoubtedly cries of \u201cSacrilege!\u201d among metalheads (and especially die-hard fans of Testament). I didn\u2019t say that The Legacy<\/i> is a bad album; indeed, it\u2019s anything but that. I\u2019d be hard-pressed, though, to necessarily call it their best effort in their career, but it was a decent (if slightly flawed) first step. There\u2019s a definite reason that, 35 years later, this band is still around. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7459],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-46349","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-testament","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46349"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}