Location: Oakland, California
Country; USA
Genre: Thrash metal
Full length: Para Bellum
Format: Digital album
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release date: October 10, 2025
Although I've always appreciated Testament, even when some albums didn’t seem so hot to me, I wasn't prepared for the degree of savagery and skill I experienced on “Para Bellum.” This album is a huge improvement from anything they've previously produced, musically, technically, emotionally, and in terms of composition, musicianship, variety and vocal delivery. It's a visceral rollercoaster that keeps pushing ahead until the very end.
I'm not sure where they're getting their energy, but Testament has benefited much from age and experience, and adding Steve DiGiorgio of Act of Denial and Chris Dovas of Dovas and Fire Wing (who is also Vital Remains' live drummer) has given them a boost of stamina. Testament has always been a band to stick things out and carve their own niche among their colleagues. This time, these Bay Area thrash veterans are pushing their efforts to stand out even further than "The Legacy," "The Formation of Damnation," or "Brotherhood of the Snake."
It’s been a long period of growth for them, and building on their sophisticated technical thrash by adding equal amounts of death metal, black metal, prog and orchestral elements they generate most likely the finest moment of their existence. If you're wondering if Testament can outperform themselves about forty years after their inception and after working with such musicians as Dave Lombardo, Paul Bostaph, Gene Hoglan, John Tempesta, and Nicholas Barker, just listen to the opener "For the Love of Pain" which combines thrash, death, and black metal with more tightness and conviction than anything I've heard before, and it's only the first track.
Long-time members of the band have been active in several other projects, which is most certainly rubbing off here. Dovas’ blast beats adds more push to Eric Peterson's work with the black metal band Dragonlord, plus Alex Skolnick's work with Savatage and Metal Allegiance, and live work with Anthrax and Ozzy Osbourne. Chuck Billy has been building his range as a vocalist, and here he complements his typical thrash vocals with deeper guttural roars that move closer to death metal vocalists.
The album’s title “Para Bellum,” the Latin phrase for “prepare for war,” is all too applicable for the current times we live in, and the mirror Testament casts on modern society in the slightly groove laden “Shadow People,” the black/thrashy “Witch Hunt,” the Megadeth-like “Room 117” and the epic title cut is as poignant and unwavering as most people's perceptions of where we may be headed.
That furious intensity can even be found in the album's sole ballad, "Meant to Be," the one moment of regret and downheartedness in the midst of all the implacable entropy. Blending thrash with classic eighties metal, strings, and classically influenced solos, it sounds like a final plea for redemption from a world on the edge of complete destruction. Its swing from melancholy to impassioned is nearly enough to bring a tear or two to your eye if you feel it strongly enough. In this way, Testament is honing more than one capacity to make you empathize with them. –Dave Wolff
Lineup
:
Chuck Billy: Vocals
Eric Peterson: Guitars, vocals
Alex Skolnick: Guitars
Steve DiGiorgio: Bass
Chris Dovas Drums
Track list:
1. For the Love of Pain
2. Infanticide A.I.
3. Shadow People
4. Meant to Be
5. High Noon
6. Witch Hunt
7. Nature of the Beast
8. Room 117
9. Havana Syndrome
10. Para Bellum
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