Testament

Album Title: Brotherhood Of The Snake
Record Label: Nuclear Blast
Review by Sal Serio
(2659) Page Views

Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake

Some bands are just reliable. Like strong coffee on a dark, cold morning; you just KNOW it’s going to provide the jolt that you desperately need. Chuck Billy and Testament are like that, and a new Testament record is similar to a visit from the oldest and truest of friends. Familiarity, yes, but always with a couple new tricks up their sleeves as well.

‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’ marks 11 studio albums in to Testament’s molten metal legacy, and emits a sound as fresh, vital, relevant, and incendiary as ever. Perhaps even more so, as these ten new songs have a sense of urgency about them that is relentless and inescapable. The staccato tempos (Gene Hoglan) and jackhammer riffs (Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson) make pretty much anything the “Big 4” bands have done this past decade seem bleached and sanitized by comparison. Yet, as brutal as this soundscape terrain is, there is still an embraceable and engaging vibe. Meaning that the heaviness does not push the listener away. Rather, these five brothers of the snake weave a sinewy, slithering, snakepit vortex that pulls all into it’s teeming viper’s nest. But don’t be afraid of this beast’s bite. This time it’s brotherly venom.

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