10 Greatest Thrash Metal Albums Of All Time
5. Testament: The Legacy (1987)
When it comes to thrash metal bands making the claim for the Big Four to become the Big Five, none come closer than Testament. The album title serves as a nice nod the band’s original Legacy title, a band name quickly changed due to a jazz group already using it. Coming out of the Bay Area thrash scene, Testament rocked the house with this debut. Learning much and more from the major thrash groups already tearing it up, Testament fine-tuned their sound into an ear-splitting, mosh-pit making declaration of war.
Guitarists Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson play off each other masterfully with Peterson’s enraged riffs bouncing nicely off Skolnick’s remarkable, technical prowess. Frontman Chuck Billy tears it up with roaring vocals boiling over with rage. Opening track Over The Wall makes for a perfect showcase for Billy’s intensity and forewarns the listener of the wild time they’re settling in.
With lyrics revolving around topics such as nuclear devastation, the occult and witchcraft, the stories told on The Legacy’s tracks match the heavy nature of its instrumentals perfectly. The Legacy remains one of the finest debuts in thrash metal history.