San Francisco was fertile metal ground in the early 1980s. Here the thrash metal, based on the groups Metallica, Megadeth and Testament, took shape. Whereas Metallica in particular grew into a stadium filler of stature, Testament remained mainly in the sub-top of the genre. The group was spared little: many changes in the line-up, poor promotion of their albums and the declining popularity of thrash
… metal. 2001 saw the biggest disaster: singer Chuck Billy was diagnosed with cancer. The gentle giant has recovered from his illness and is back on The Formation Of Damnation. Where a group like Metallica chose eggs for the money started playing a kind of 'thrash metal light', Testament remains faithful to the genre. The original line-up plus drummer Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer and Exodus) plays eleven pounding metal tracks full of pounding drums, lightning-fast breaks and screaming guitar solos. The veterans are back. (PdK)more
