10 Awesome Thrash Metal Bands With One Terrible Album

For many thrashers out there, Testament came painfully close to making The Big Four become The Big Five when they released 'The New Order' in 1988.

Uninterested in staying true to conventional thrash, the Berkeley band branched out into more experimental fare in the years after. While the results were often interesting, many would argue it hampered their once sterling reputation as occult tour de force of thrash mayhem.

Look no further than 'The Ritual', a messy collage of various ideas and stylings that don't gel all that well. Commercially, this LP boasts 'Return to Serenity', the group's most successful single. That's where the high notes come to an end unfortunately as the group forsake much of what made them big to begin with.

Coming hot off the heels of 'The Black Album', a work of mainstream friendly metal that sent Metallica even further into superstardom, Testament attempted their own commercially sensible sound. The result is a blend of power metal, some prog leanings and a severely neutered take on the harsher thrash that made them a name in the '80s.

Chuck Billy's vocals still rumble with great energy and enthusiasm and similar praise can be directed at Alex Skolnick's guitars. Overall, however, the cult favourites did a disservice to themselves here.