The Gathering

Testament almost did a full-blown Metallica, and this album very nearly solidified that. Luckily, Testament would turn this around after a 7 year hiatus, but nevertheless, this album is surprisingly well-received by fans, I’m not one of those people, so let’s go over the things I don’t like about this album. Firstly, Testament are still trying to do death metal. You’d think they’d have learned the first time... or the second... or possibly even the 3rd? Nope, they just continued to pump out this crap that clearly wasn’t working. Testament is a thrash band, always will be, and this is evident since the middle of their discography is just piles of shit sandwiched between masterpieces. Anyways, the actual songs on here are alright, they’re far better than the songs from the ritual or Demonic, D.N.R. Is boring as fuck and Careful What You Wish For makes me want to cut my ears off, but Fall of Sipledome and Riding the Snake are both very good since they execute classic songwriting with interesting riffs and a captivating structure, but it’s too bad they’re layered under this awful, compressed and downtuned tone. However, Dave Lombardo is on this album, which gives it some bonus points.

The songwriting is definitely an improvement from Demonic, it sounds like they're actually trying this time, although the songs are still boring most of the time, the album is certainly a step up in terms of structure and quality. The riffs fit the songs more, there are some more ambitious changes throughout each track, even standout songs such as The Fall Of Sipledome are interesting and tell a story. The problem is that all of these ideas just aren't delivered all the way through, and it's obvious that Testament are just trying to get back on their feet.

The guitars continue from their formulaic approach of the last 3 or 4 records, the solos are watered down and lack tension or climactic phrasing (that's probably to blame of Alex's absence), the bass is once again practically non-existence, and Chuck is still trying to stick to his death metal style, which I will admit peaks here, but still isn't really remarkable at all. The drums here are very good, Dave Lombardo really shines, pounding the shit out of the double bass with efficiency and prominence, most notably on Legions of the Dead and Allegiance, during which he batters the hi-hats, toms and everything in between, drumming with precision and wasting no fills. Unfortunately, the drums alone aren't enough to save this album. Overall, Testament still have a lot of work to do, which is why I grant this record with the title of being the audio equivalent of sparkling water; it's boring, samey, goes down awkwardly and has a shitty aftertaste, but it's still edible and doesn't make your piss turn purple like the godawful Demonic and Low.