Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)

You’re putting your finger on something that I have to admit has plagued me about Testament for a long, long time. I think I kinda want to hate them just a little? And maybe always have?

Let me be clear: I’m not saying they suck in any measurable way. On the contrary: they’ve always excelled at whatever they choose to do (as you also point out). I have to at least give them high marks for consistently creating what they seemed to have wanted to create. But I think I’ve always just, I dunno, been envious or judgmental or something? Take The Ritual. I really harshed on that album back when it came out, even as I loved the shit out of it. Don’t get me started on “Return To Serenity.” But nowadays, I can’t stop thinking about that album!

With that in mind, I went back on your advice, and gave it a second listen. And it was… okay? Not great? I’m definitely grading them on a harsh curve, still. Just for the sake of calibration, here are other 2.8 star firsties I’ve logged in the past:

• Kerry King — From Hell I Rise
• Prong — State Of Emergency
• Cannibal Corpse — Chaos Horrific
• Scar Symmetry — The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph)