Dark Roots of Earth

Testament: legendary band, legendary sound

A heavy music was being developed slowly, step by step. Numerous new subgenres and directions were appearing with time. Thus, in the eighties of the previous century a really loud event took place: rockers invented thrash-metal. It saw the light due to such genres as heavy-metal, speed-metal and others, not less expressive kinds. Thrash-metal proved to be a notable discovery and it started another revolution in music. Moreover, it even laid foundation for a great many of other extreme genres that appeared much later, and there is hardly a person who wants to argue about thrash-metal’s importance. Of course, there were musicians-founders of that style, and especially due to them that aggressive variety got so popular. Every dedicated rocker knows about the famous Big Five of thrash-metal: Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and, of course, Testament. Metalheads all over the world should thank these very bands for delivering fast, aggressive and incredibly expressive music. Testament have been pleasing their fans with creativity for almost three decades now. In year 2012 the band released its tenth studio album with a gloomy title Dark Roots of Earth. Definitely, fans of the genre will not leave that record unnoted.

Dark Roots of Earth: like in old good times

Well, people have been waiting for Dark Roots of Earth for a long time: the rockers’ previous work was issued in 2008. However Testament were not wasting time during these four years. Instead they prepared some high-class material and in 2012 they presented it to the huge audience. Make your acoustic systems louder, push the play button and watch the system shake real hard: the roaring riffs of the opening composition Rise Up are immense indeed. Fast and aggressive – everything is performed in the best traditions of thrash-metal. This is so nice to realize that some things (especially when we talk about good things) remain unchanged. The song Native Blood will not slow down, it will continue to build an atmosphere, charged with amazing amounts of pure energy. The album’s title track, Dark Roots of Earth, proved to be epic and quite dark, which is hundred percent relevant to the title. Some acoustic tunes are presented in the song Cold Embrace. That atmospheric and mid-tempo track is a great addition to Dark Roots of Earth, in spite of the fact that it is much slower. Enjoy melodic elements and beautiful guitar solos – Testament once again prove that they are able to write various kinds of music and not to limit themselves with one genre only. Even in spite of the fact that thrash-metal had become the band’s natural habitat.

Real rock and sincere attitude

Testament are no doubt are one of the most respected and influential rockers on the modern rock stage. That group can be proud of many years of sincere rocking, experience gaining and dedication to music in general. Just imagine: the musicians have been pleasing fans with amazing albums for more than thirty years, while those lucky ones who went to their gigs will hardly forget about that band. That music must be loud, it must motivate listeners for some actions. Well, it used to be like this back in the eighties, and – fortunately – situation has not changed since that time. Dark Roots of Earth, just as it was expected, proved to be a traditionally strong record. Can it be any other way, since we talk about Testament studio attempt? Probably not. Listeners will get thirteen dynamic compositions, created in the band’s signature style. That means that you will not be bored at all, while your neighbors may have some questions about the acceptable volume level. More than hour of great, old-school (in the best possible meaning) metal is an amazing present for fans of that genre. Testament stick to their guns. Actually they demonstrate that metal is still strong, despite of a huge variety of modern styles. Well, the real music is always time-tested.