Testament has never disappointed fans with any release they’ve made…and they are still holding that tradition with their eleventh studio album, Brotherhood Of The Snake.
Dark Roots Of Earth saw the band heading in a more grandiose side of thrash metal. Songs such as Cold Embrace and Throne Of Thorns are examples of long, almost progressive tunes that focus on more elaborate areas in metal.
Brotherhood Of The Snake was designed to be straight-ahead thrash from start to finish. No detours, pure hostility!
A goal that doesn’t seem to be a challenge for a band like Testament, but this was a task great enough to compete against their past work dating 25+ years back.
The idea behind the record is primarily based around a secret society that looked up to extraterrestrials as their Gods. Although the entire LP isn’t necessarily a concept album, this was the basic premise that inspired the theme within the songwriting process. Branching out of their real-life topics focused on other releases like The Formation Of Damnation, while still sustaining the occult side of Testament in which they were founded on.
Chuck Billy has been sounding better with each album and since the emphasis with Brotherhood Of The Snake is pure thrash, Billy brings out a more fierce approach to singing. Gene Hoglan continues to be a beast as usual with audible fills ringing out constantly through each song. My main takeaway was the incredible musicianship of Alex Skolnick. Utilizing both heavy rhythms and melodic solos, he is a prodigy and serves as an essential part to the overall sound.
The band’s latest album comes out swinging with the exhilarating title track. As soon as you hear Chuck Billy’s growl, you know you’re in for an aggressive album. The momentum keeps increasing with The Pale King, a song with more layers and mood changes. Complete with a harmonizing solo and a tempo change reminiscent of Slayer‘s Seasons In The Abyss, this is one of the major highlights on Brotherhood Of The Snake.
From the non-stop belligerence of Centuries Of Suffering to the moody vibe of Born In A Rut, Testament compiled the perfect thrash album without repeating the same patterns or sounding repetitive. There’s plenty of crowd chanters including Stronghold and when they feel the need to add melody like in Seven Seals, it doesn’t throw the song off balance.
One of the gems in Brotherhood Of The Snake is Neptune’s Spear, describing the assassination mission of Osama Bin Laden. At first it sounds like another killer thrash tune just like the tracks before it, however during the second solo Skolnick carries the tone towards an almost classical direction. Shining like a true guitar hero, this section may have been influenced from his time in Trans Siberian Orchestra perhaps and it stands as one of the peaks of Brotherhood Of The Snake.
As a whole the band compiled a flawless batch of new material and can wear it like a badge for doing such a damn good job. Upfront and polished with melodic brilliance, Testament have created a thrashterpiece and they’re not ready to throw in the towel anytime soon.
Leave a Reply