TESTAMENT — Brotherhood of the Snake (review)

TESTAMENT — Brotherhood of the Snake album cover Album · 2016 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Brotherhood Of The Snake" is the 11th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Testament. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in October 2016. It´s the successor to "Dark Roots of Earth" from 2012. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Greg Christian has been replaced by Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Iced Earth). The latter also played with Testament from 1998 to 2004, so he´s not an unfamiliar face for the fans. The remaining members of the lineup are Chuck Billy (vocals), Alex Skolnick (guitar), Eric Peterson (guitar), and Gene Hoglan (drums).

There has been much talk about "Brotherhood Of The Snake" being written and recorded faster than the band originally planned, but if this is how a "rushed" effort by Testament sounds, I wish they would be even more spontaneous in the future, because "Brotherhood Of The Snake" has turned out a really strong release. It´s sharp, heavy, organic, and memorable thrash metal, and it´s not at all as one-dimensional as some reviews may have you believe. Testament skillfully add both melody and dark atmosphere to their edgy thrash metal riffing and rhythms, and Chuck Billy delivers a strong and varied vocal performance.

The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, but in addition to Billy´s strong vocal performance I´d like to give a special mention to Alex Skolnick. While Eric Peterson wrote most of the basic tracks for the album, Skolnick´s lead guitar parts really spice the material up and add an extra dimension to the music. He is an incredibly skilled guitar player, who perfectly understands how to balance fierce shredding with gorgeous melodic moments. Gene Hoglan is of course always worth a mention too, and his performance here is another demonstration of his amazing drumming skills.

As for the material on the 10 track, 45:26 minutes long album it´s well written and memorable. There are several strong tracks on the album, but it´s the consistency of quality and style, which is the real winner here. There´s simply not a single sub par track on the album. When that is said I still have to mention "The Pale King" as a standout track on "Brotherhood Of The Snake". That one is bound to be a future Testament classic.

"Brotherhood Of The Snake" features a powerful, sharp, and detailed sound production, and upon conclusion this is an album which features all the elements for success. One asset I haven´t mentioned above is that Testament don´t sound old and tired, which sometimes happens to artists this far into their career. On the contrary they sound both inspired and hungry, which has great impact on the performance of the material. It´s things like that which make a world of difference between the really great artists and the not so great ones. A 4 star (80%) rating is well deserved.
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Nightfly wrote:
more than 2 years ago
A great album for sure but for some reason not quite hitting me the way the last 2 albums did.
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Seven Seals is indeed a great track. Heavy as hell.
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Good review, Testament and Overkill have both been incredibly consistent lately. "Seven Seals" is my favorite from this album.

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