First Strike Still Deadly

This is just plain ridiculous. Just when you think that Testament couldn't fuck up any harder, they did. They manage to take songs off The Legacy and The New Order and strip away anything that was ever good about them.

For example, the opening track - possibly the best song on The Legacy. First Strike is Deadly - a beautiful fucking solo in the original, and here it is reproduced note for note, but about 85% speed, and buried in the mix. They then amplify that boring fucking riff, and also make the drumwork too loud. Does not work at all. Also, Chuck Billy's vocals just don't fit, and the rhythm guitar sounds completely off the mark. It's hard to describe exactly why, but the originals are less "bouncy" sounding - less accent on the single snare hit once per beat - here, you hear too much damn drums.

Then they throw in not one, not two, FIVE goddamn songs from The New Order in a row. Oh man, this is unbearably bad. It really makes you realise how similar those songs were originally. First, Into the Pit. Listen to the under-verse riff. That is the basic Testament Riff. It appears again in Trial By Fire, and AGAIN in Disciples of the Watch, The Preacher, and Burnt Offerings. Holy crap, it's pretty much the same song, five times. Wait, Burnt Offerings is off The Legacy? I couldn't tell. Sounds just like the rest.

Then, Over the Wall - finally, something a bit different, but again this sounds nothing like it should. Chuck's vocals just don't make any sense in this context - also the backing vocals are too over-emphasised, and in general the riffs are too choppy, with the drums too prominent in the mix. Oh and then the solo... Alex's solo is done pretty decently, but then what the fuck is up with Eric Peterson's "solo"? You know, the little Judas-Priest-like melodic part. It's out of key!!! What the fuck, it doesn't make any fucking sense!!! Also, they throw it into the stereo field slightly out of phase, just to give you a headache. Argh - you people completely fucking destroyed the song. Idiots.

Then, yet another fucking The Worthless Order song. Let us speak no more of it. The Haunting is a generic Legacy track that really doesn't do anything either. Here, they manage to make it do even less. The guitar tone is just horribly inappropriate.

Then... Alone in the Dark with Zetro. This one almost sounds better, because here Zetro is a better vocalist than Chuck. This is not true in general, but Zetro just sounds vicious, as opposed to trying too fucking hard. A bit annoying in the verses, but in the chorus, fucking awesome. FAUSTUS PREPARES THE LEGIONS OF THE NIGHT!!!!

The riffs are tighter-sounding in general than on the rest of the album, and almost as good as on the Legacy.

Finally, we have the ONE song that makes this album not entire shit. The obligatory Forgotten Song, Reign of Terror. Why this did not make it onto The Legacy is beyond me - the demo version is fucking awesome, and is the greatest song Testament ever did.

Make it the second-greatest. This version fucking kicks its ass. I have no idea why they didn't make the drums and guitars interact this way on the rest of the album, because here it's fucking powerful and raw as Hell. Excellent riffage - and man do these guys know how to thrash. You know that riff in the middle of the song - well, here, it's about 10 times heavier, and 100 times as effective. I never thought they could do it, but they managed to make the song BETTER!!! And Zetro is in top shape, absolutely fucking excellent. The highlight of their career.

In conclusion - download that one song, and to Hell with the rest of the album.