For legendary thrash titans Testament, consistency and more than a bit of persistence have been key to their longevity. Even during their diversions into groove and death metal, they still produced music of the highest quality, and it’s those excursions which have helped form the latter day sound. Indeed, since returning to their thrash roots they have had a stunning run of albums which have helped cement their legacy. Para Bellum continues in that vein with an album which contains all that magic thrash formula, with a few interesting diversions.
That consistency is apparent on the rapid fire opener of ‘For The Love Of Pain’ and it’s nonstop from there. ‘Infanticide A.I.’ throws staccato riffs into the mix until the groove of ‘Shadow People’ slows things down slightly. The first surprise is making room for some orchestral power balladry with ‘Meant To Be’. It’s not the first time Testament have gone down the route of metal power balled, but not quite in this way so much.
‘High Noon’ revisits the sound on The Ritual album with its slower paced groove. What does stand out is how much better produced they sound these days though, making them sound so much heavier. There’s plenty of old school thrash on show here too such as on the likes of ‘Witch Hunt’ and ‘Havana Syndrome’, just in case you are missing those early glory days of The Legacy.
Whilst Para Bellum may not reach the heights of some of their more recent efforts it’s still another vital release from them. They may not be rewriting the wheel anymore but when you were one of the originators of the thrash sound then that legacy is already written. Thirty years down the line and there seems to be no sign of stopping yet for these titans of metal. Long may they reign.
