TESTAMENT PLAY THE MOLSON AMPHTHEATRE (909 LAKESHORE BLVD) AUG 13.
Thrash-metal giants Testament have released their first new album in a decade, boasting new addition/former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph. However, while these 11 tracks are strong, they fall short of expectations. The band’s original passion and zeal are gone, replaced by bitterness and mediocrity. Despite thick rhythms, plenty of lead guitar wails and Chuck Billy’s unmistakably gruff vocals, the riffs are mostly decent but never really go anywhere, and the band forsake their definitive Bay Area sound for the early-’00s death metal they later veered into. Only on “The Persecuted Won’t Forget” do they hit the stride that made albums like The New Order such head-banging masterpieces. In the grand scheme, The Formation of Damnation is listenable if not altogether fulfilling; still, it’s a cut above the majority of the carbon-copied metal currently oxidizing the scene.