Testament - "Brotherhood of the Snake"

Testament - Brotherhood of the Snake
2016, Nuclear Blast

1. Brotherhood of the Snake
2. The Pale King
3. Stronghold
4. Seven Seals
5. Born in a Rut
6. Centuries of Suffering
7. Black Jack
8. Neptune's Spear
9. Canna-business
10. The Number Game

Brotherhood of the Snake was another album I bought just because people said it was good. And, by George, it's the finest bit of thrash music this side of Anthrax. It's not quite as excellent as Anthrax's For All Kings, which came out earlier the same year, but it's right up there. An impressive, quality thrash record I say. The big attraction here is the tasty riffage served piping hot with a nice meaty, crunchy guitar tone and plenty of face-melting leads. The lyrical direction is pretty steeped in conspiracy theories and such. It's interesting fodder for discussion though. I'm always fascinated by conspiracies even though I'm not a believer in them for the most part. "Seven Seals" is a full on recounting of the book of Revelation - in which the band sings about Christ's ultimate victory. Weird for Testament (who are NOT a Christian band at all), but not unwelcome. You'll notice Flotsam & Jetsam have a song called "Seventh Seal" that deals with the exact same subject matter. Both albums released in 2016... must have been something in the air I guess. Anywho... go pick up Brotherhood of the Snake because it's awesome and well worth your time.

Useless Fact: I guess there was some tension in the studio while the band recorded this record. I don't think they had full songs when they went in and wrote as they went.

Testament - "Practice What You Preach"

Testament - Practice What You Preach
1989, Atlantic

1. Practice What You Preach
2. Perilous Nation
3. Envy Life
4. Time Is Coming
5. Blessed In Contempt
6. Greenhouse Effect
7. Sins of Omission
8. The Ballad
9. Nightmare (Coming Back To You)
10. Confusion Fusion

Was never a huge Testament fan and I'm still not really, but I do like Practice What You Preach. I originally got one in the heyday of the LaLa CD trading website. I'm not sure why I got rid of it the first time. It's high-quality late Eighties thrash. The band has switched out some of their darker lyrical themes for social issues...which is always nice (for me, anyway). Maybe some day I'll look into more Testament. For now, however, I'll stick to Practice. 

Useless Fact: Did you know back in the day some company made Christian breath mints called "Testa-mints." I know that's not a fact about this band but I don't know enough about them to give you something interesting. And their name makes me think of those silly mints.