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Formation of Damnation

Description

The Formation of Damnation is the 2008 release-- the first Testament studio album of all new material in nine years. This is the first Testament album to feature Alex Skolnick on guitar since 1992's The Ritual, also the first to feature bassist Greg Christian since 1994's Low. Testament are an US thrash metal band from California. Some of their records entered the charts in major markets such as the UK and Germany. Testament has two Top 40 albums and one Top 50 album to its credit in the UK. Their 1999 album The Gathering also entered the Top 50 in Germany. They had minor top 100 album success in the United States.

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-12-17
Summary: "Wow..."

After "The Legacy" I figured Testament would put out a few more bad albums and just fade away. Or even worse sell out their fans like Metallica and change their whole format to please the commercial masses (and their bank accounts). Out of whim I downloaded The Formation of Damnation and for only $5 what can I possibly lose? BTW thanks Amazon!! This is by far the best metal album I purchased in many years. There is not one song on the album I do not like. It's just old school metal and that's how it should be. WOW! My ears are still ringing from playing it so loud!!!!!!!

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-10-26
Summary: "Testament"

What needs to be said? Testament are still going strong and this CD is brilliant. Rock on TESTAMENT!

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Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2009-08-20
Summary: "Four Star Testament, One Star Mastering"

When I first bought this album not too long after it was released I listened to it pretty regularly for a couple of weeks or so. I thought then as I do now that despite a few issues it was a solid Testament release that I'd enjoy for years to come. So why now over a year after its release do I find myself not able to recall the last time I listened to it?
It's because this record is just another unfortunate victim of what many in and out of the music industry term the loudness wars.

Now in this case I'm not sure if this is totally the fault of the mastering job done here or if the instruments themselves were just recorded too close to zero db. I would guess it's a combination of both. It all adds up to a record that is overly loud with everything at the same volume and just fatiguing to listen to. This just plain sucks because I like the music contained here.

So now you say, hey you idiot this is metal, it's supposed to be loud! What are you, some kind of stupid audio snob? Nobody can even hear what you're talking about!
For an even more current example just take a look at the discussion on the net surrounding the newest Metallica album. You'll find many people giving these same complaints. When metal-heads start to complain about overly loud albums with clipping and distortion, you know something is up.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-05-12
Summary: "Skolnick' s awesome comeback!!!"

This album is a metal masterpiece. Alex Skolnick's guitar work is outstanding and the drums are driving and brutal. Nowadays, by far Testament is the best Thrash Metal band in the world. Don't waste your hard earned money with Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax or even Megadeth's stuff, all of them sound completely outdated, while Testament's is full of vitality. Testament rules!!!!

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-05-07
Summary: "Testament is back!"

Testament has been through alot of line-up changes, but it does not stop them from thrashing. perhaps they are sending a message to Metallica (stop sucking and start thrashing). on this album, Testament pays tribute to September 11, 2001 with their song "The Evil Has Landed". the solos on this album are killer. I can tell where the retro-thrash bands get their inspiration to do long solos. all in all a combination of brutality and melody.