1. Rise Up
2. Native Blood
3. Dark Roots Of Earth
4. True American Hate
5. A Day In The Death
6. Cold Embrace
7. Man Kills Mankind
8. Throne Of Thorns
9. Last Stand For Independence
CD/DVD
and Vinyl bonus tracks
10. Dragon Attack (Queen cover)
11. Animal Magnetism (Scorpions cover)
12. Powerslave (Iron Maiden cover)
13. Throne Of Thorns (extended)
Chuck
Billy – Vocals
Eric Peterson – Guitar
Alex Skolnick – Guitar
Greg Christian – Bass
"Dark Roots of Earth is the tenth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament. It was released on July 27, 2012 in Europe, and four days later in North America by the independent German record label Nuclear Blast
Records.The album is available in three configurations: CD, CD/DVD and vinyl with the latter two versions including four bonus
tracks.The album was produced by Andy Sneap, who mixed and engineered the band's previous two studio albums, The Gathering (1999) and The Formation of Damnation
(2008).The album artwork was created by Eliran Kantor.A music video was made for the track "Native Blood".
This album saw a reunion with Gene Hoglan, who played drums on the band's 1997 album Demonic. During the recording, Hoglan filled in for Paul Bostaph due to his "serious
injury". Chris Adler of Lamb of God provided drum tracks on the iTunes bonus version of "A Day in the
Death".
Testament
is the definition of metal.
If you’re one of those metalers who is reading this because they aren’t familiar with Testament and they saw
how much publicity this album is receiving, first off, shame on you. And you call yourself a listener of metal! Do yourself a favour, keep this screen open, don’t close it, get your shoes on, go to wherever you can buy CD’s (or online mp3 retailer) and buy two albums from Testament. It doesn’t matter which two, because they are all awesome. Listen to them a few times, wipe your mouth off because you WILL drool at how they sound. Testament, is the definition of metal. That is the highest praise I can give to a metal band. They are probably the only band that doesn’t have a bad album and they are the only band that has improved through the years. Every metal band should strive to be Testament, they never got to the level of Pantera or Metallica in popularity but they’ve always had a cult following and they’ve always managed to sell a lot of albums. The musicianship of this band is phenomenal, the lyrics are fantastic, the stage presence is excellent…they have excelled where other bands have failed. This is Testament.
Now that your back, was I right? Facebook me and tell me which albums you bought. Anyway, “Dark Roots Of Earth” is just as great as their other albums. That’s what I like about Testament, they’ll never let their fans down! Their won’t be an album like, “Load” (Metallica) or “Risk,” (Megadeth) with Testament, instead, they make sure the album blends with their other stuff. God I love this band.
“When I say ‘rise up’ you say War!” “rise up! WAR!!” From the gates, Testament is rallying their fanbase into a massive circle pit of epic proportions. “Rise Up” is an excellent song to drive to and to work out to, it’s faster paced, very thrashy, and the lyrics make the listener stand up and sing along even if they don’t know the words. For those not familiar with Testament will get up and slam dance to this track, it’s just that good.
“Native Blood” is a song I’m happy they created, of course everyone thinks that Native Blood refers to Chuck Billy’s Native American heritage but in reality the term “native blood” can refer to anyone’s ancestry, but one cannot help but to think about Native Americans when this song is played and how history has not treated them very well. I feel, although I don’t think the lyrics don’t really support it, that the song is telling young Natives to make something of themselves, but again, this can apply to anyone. My point is, this song sends a positive message. Seriously, have you heard of any band do that regardless of genre? Especially a metal band?!?!? Fuck, Metallica hasn’t done that!
Testament or Nuclear Blast has been promoting the song, “True American Hate,” honestly, it’s a decent song and all, it’s heavy, it’s fast, but I just think it’s okay. What they should have been promoting is “Powerslave” the Iron Maiden cover. Testament killed that song! In a good way! It’s heavier than the original, played a beat faster than Maiden, it’s one of the best cover songs I’ve ever heard. I feel the drumming is better on this version played with more precision than Nicko McBrain, however, as good as this version is, and it is the most listened to track for me on this album, when I go back to the original, the original has a lot more Steve Harris and has more of an Egyptian vibe which gives the song character. Testament kind of bulldozes through the song where I didn’t get that sense and you could barely hear the bass in the Testament version, instead you have heavy hell guitars. Which isn’t a bad thing but it definitely sets them both apart. Testament’s version is still worth according to other Maiden fans I’ve spoken with, I’m not a huge fan of them so I had to ask. But it is my favourite track on the cd.
I think it was obvious in my first paragraph, go buy the CD already. You’ll like it, and if you’ve missed a Testament CD here and there, pick them up too, you won’t be disappointed, I promise.
Testament: "Dark
Roots Of Earth"