This past Sunday I went with my bandmates and saw Testament (click here for their myspace page) at Lulu's in State College. It was pretty awesome. For a group of guys in their forties they kicked quite a bit of ass.
Mostly, I just wanted to see Alex Skolnick's fingers fly over the fretboard to classic metal tunes like "Practice What You Preach" and "DNR." Skolnick might be the best guitar player in the 80s thrash bands - far better than King or Hanneman from Slayer and technically more accomplished than Kirk Hammett but not quite as stylish or groovy.
Anyway, they didn't play my favorite tune "Souls of Black" - a song with one of the best introductions ever - but I was really pleased by the new tunes like "More than Meets the Eye." They have managed to return some of thrash's rawness to metal while updating it with some punch from bands like Lamb of God. No doubt having Paul Bostaph (formerly of Slayer and other bands) helps that enormously.
Testament came up in the wake of the of Metallica, Slayer, and Exodus in the 80s. Their lyrics tend to critique the institutions around us - government, the military, and religion. Where people centralize power, corruption and dishonesty reign. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Testament are particularly lyrically inspired or insightful, but the foundation of the band is quite sound.
Videos!
"Practice What You Preach"
"Souls of Black"
"Sins of Omission" Live (Check out Skolnick's face. It doesn't change much. He has incredible control.)
One of these days I'll get to that Metallica post. :-)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Impromptu metal post! Testament
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2 comments:
Have you heard the new Cynic yet...I'm interested in your thoughts on it, since you have a casual interest in the band and whatnot...heh.
-MRA in Kingston, Ontario
I have heard it and will probably post something about it later. My copy is a bad demo that has annoying skips in it.
That said, my initial impression is that the earlier songs are a little too space ranger for me while the later songs are heavier and also a bit more coherent. However, I get so annoyed by my copy that I'm not ready to give a full-throated review yet.
PDB
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