The Gathering

Whatever Testament; or mainly just Chuck and Eric were doing to build up a better record and direction towards their next installment, it worked. Recruiting one of the best drummers, the not-so fond drummer of Slayer that is Dave Lombardo did an amazing job. His drumming massively helped in the composition. The returning James Murphy also laid better riffs and tone for the music than what he wrote in Low. Also, recruiting one of the most accomplished bassists in extreme metal, Steve DiGiorgio gave the bass in Testament a distinct taste. As a technical pioneer to death metal, I’m sure they welcomed him with open arms. Hell, with two former Death members and former pioneering thrash metal drummer, this album makes Testament look like a supergroup - and it’s already sounding like a powerhouse.

I didn’t feel the bass in the mix for The Gathering; at least in its first portion, but I’m certain it was challenging enough and helped in not making the music sound so typical. The guitars sounded alive as they should, but even then it’s not comparable nor beatable to what Alex Skolnick wrote. As for the drums, they sounded more progressive, and I don’t expect a thrash metal drummer to unload consistent blast beats, but I believe it would have helped. After all, this album is death metal… arguably. Chuck still sounded like James Hetfield (I should really stop using this tiresome example), but at least you can recognize it’s Chuck and not someone else because he was unrecognizable in Demonic. His death growls are still not that impressive. It sounds more like raspy, unclean vocals. Nevertheless, as I write this review, I found a recent article/interview that states The Gathering was Chuck’s most comfortable album to record. So at least the man enjoyed what he’s doing in the studio.

D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate) is an example of how death metal can be groovy; of course, leaning towards groove metal as a genre. But the song itself was pretty refreshing for its speed and vocal layers. You can hear it clearly in Riding the Snake, especially the technical aspect Steve offered. Probably one of the best Testament songs and what actually made me want to listen to them, Legions of the Dead is short, fulfilling but brutal. This was the most accurate Testament song that sounds like death metal. From here on out excluding Careful What You Wish For but including the instrumental bonus track Hammer of the Gods, the album sounds much better. You can listen to the bass more, as well as the much faster and hard-hitting drums and the guitars being crunchy and crisp.

The next four songs after the opening song rely more on rhythm and brief sequences, which was overall diminishing in result. The guitars and drums mostly sounded convenient, but that’s about it. Same with the long and forgettable Eyes of Wrath that focuses more on the instruments. And then you have True Believer, a Metallica-worship song, even with the bad groove execution in the middle. I’m just going to leave it at that.

The Gathering is yet another one of those one-time records. Much like The Legacy, it wasn’t the most exciting record I’ve heard, when originally I thought it might just be my favorite album, of theirs, but it’s better than nothing. It didn’t feel like Testament and more simply like a supergroup, yet still delivering something people didn’t really anticipate. Thankfully, it makes Demonic forgettable. The best songs are D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate), Legions of the Dead, Sewn Shut Eyes, Fall of Sipledome, and the instrumental bonus track Hammer of the Gods.