3. The Formation of Damnation
Recommended Track: The Evil Has Landed, yet further example of Chuck Billy's intelligent lyrics, this is a reflection on the events of 9/11 set to furious, defiant Thrash Metal. After a hiatus that lasted 9 long years, Testament announced their come back with an album that stands as a modern Thrash classic and as one of Testament's greatest achievements. The Formation of Damnation is a ferocious album and sounds like the work of a band half their age. Leaving the competition (Metallica, I'm looking at you) in the dust it seems that with this album and its follow up, the equally impressive Dark Roots of Earth, that Testament are finally going to claim their place at the top of the Thrash pile. Deftly balancing Testament's Thrash past with their dalliances in Death Metal on their mid to late 90's output, Chuck Billy and co. have produced a sonically thrilling album full of groove, intensity and enough riffs to suffocate a walrus. The most welcome addition is the overdue return of guitar legend, Alex Skolnick, who provides Testament with the X Factor (I hate using that term but it's annoyingly apt) they had sorely been missing for far too long; a guitarist capable of slaying the competition and the quality on show here affirms his importance to the band.