TESTAMENT - stub review added 9th December 2008
Album Review: The Gathering (1999)
For fans of: thrash... and songs so loud you have to turn the volume down
Has there ever, ever, been a louder song than 'Down For Life'? It's one of those tracks that is so perfectly produced it doesn't matter how high you crank the volume the speakers still cope.
The rest of the album follows a similar vein. This is incredibly catchy but impossibly heavy music. Chuck Billy's death howls and demonic grunts shouldn't be musical but are. The double kick drums and thrashed guitars should sound like the end of Hell and indeed they do, but in a bloody good way.
This is the music Satan would make if he converted to the good side. This is purified evil that walks your dog, washes your car and helps around the garden. The Gathering is darkness bathed in light and it's darn near perfect.
Check out... The funky middle part of 'True Believer'. I dare you not to head bang.
Track List:
