Gathering

If you only ever buy one Testament album, this is it! If you want to get started on Testament, this could either be the best or the worst place to start. You will love it, I'll almost guarantee it, but while their other stuff is great too, you'll likely find that The Gathering is a tough competitor for other Testament albums. For some reason Testament mostly passed me by in the 80's and 90's, not sure why? I started to pay attention three years back, buying a greatest hit and seeing them live (at Copenhell, DK). A friend recommended me The Gathering, told me to buy it before any of their other stuff. I have never regretted it. Fantastic album. You kind of wish Lombardo had stayed with them, it seemed like a perfect match.

Great album that gather in time and unique line-up or Dave Lombardo being behind the drums justifies by itself the high quality of it. Even the bonus track on this reissue os quite good.

I love every Testament album, one of their best even without Skolnick. Great vocals by Chuck, every song is better the other one and nothing else i should add. Just put it in your stereo and prepare for headbang. Buy it!

Perfect! Thanks!

This is a great album, I have only just discovered Testament and what I have heard so far is fantastic.

Arrived safely, but it took a long time (2 months) to arrive, therefore I've took a couple of stars off.

I dug this album out recently, and transferred it to my iPod. What an absolute monster. This is the album that Metallica should put on before they start recording new material. It would send them back to the golf course, let's put it that way. 'The Gathering' has everything: Catchy vocals, massive, catchy riffs, and amazing drumming from Slayer's Dave Lombardo. Testament are an exception to the rule, in that I think they are BETTER without their founding member and axe-god Alex Skolnick. His rejoining for the most recent LP, 'Formation of Damnation', is proof that they were better off without him. THAT is a good album, but this is GREAT, and on here the Petersen / Murphy / DiGiorgio axis never fails to astonish at every opportunity. Maybe Alex has been spending too much time with Rodrigo Y Gabriela, and forgotten that Post-Thrash needs a dash of extra brutality from the halcion days of 80's thrash..? But that's a debate for elsewhere. The great thing about Testament, is that you get the intensity and power of modern metal, but you also the old-school songwriting skills, which current trendy bands like Arch Enemy simply do not have. Several tracks off this album could have been chart hits, were we living in an alternate reality with truly democratic radio stations. All killer, no filler. Awesome.

If this album had been released in the 80s, I am convinced it would be recognised now as one of the greatest thrash albums ever. In another 10 years, perhaps it will be. In their glorious back-catalogue, this is bettered only by their thunderous debut. It has speed, aggression, seriously ultra-heavy production, and most importantly, brilliant infectious, lodge-in-your-head tunes. The groove which flows through this album is unstoppable, each track rumbling like a steamroller with the handbrake left off. Chuck sings and shouts as if delivering a threat in every word. Perhaps the best album I have bought since the turn of the millenium. If you don't know it, you really should.

I found myself jotting down the same notes for this album as I did for Reroute to Remain by In Flames, which I reviewed yesterday. One of the things I made a note on is how In Flames doesn't sound much different from this kind of metal that Testament plays. First of all, for anybody wondering, you can find a great black metal CD by a side project of Testament. It is by Dragon Lord and the album is called Rapture. Many of the songs on The Gathering are short, but that's normal for thrash. The drums are very clean and at times, such as in track 2, are quite fun. The lyrics are torherful - just absolutely destructive. Well, maybe that's an overstatement, but let me put it this way: If you're the parent of a 8 year old, don't let him/her buy this album!!! "We live in a f***** up world" is an example of the harshness. The vocals on the album almost remind me of death metal...... well, they do, but don't quite sound like death metal vocals. I'm not really into thrash metal. I have this CD, Ride the Lightning, Forbidden Evil...... and that's about it. I will say that this has just got to be top-notch for thrash metal... at least, for someone who's actually moved out of the 80s and into better-produced music. Although I'm normally into different kinds of metal, I will honestly say that this album really impresses me! It doesn't have that much varation, but that might be because of the lack of constant guitar riffs. So have I said enough? For anybody into thrash metal, GET THIS ALBUM. And for anybody wanting a taste of thrash metal who is into Children of Bodom, Rhapsody - any European metal (my normal music), this is the album to go to for your "sample" of thrash metal. Highly recommended. And what a cover art on their album, "The New Order"! When you get the time, go read some of my other reviews and say if they were helpful to you or not.

Gran bel disco dei testament , siamo quasi ai livelli del mitico The Legacy. Questa versione è ottima poichè contiene anche una traccia aggiuntiva. Se vi piace il metal questo disco fa per voi.

Hab die CD für meinen Sohn gekauft. Selten do ein glückliches Gesicht gesehen. Er hatte sich die CD schon lange gewünscht und der Zustand war einwandfrei.

特に1-4曲あたりは素晴らしいです。 またギター、ドラムのサウンドが素晴らしいですね。一方で、ベースはほとんど聴こえて来ません… メタルのリファレンスになるCDです。

probablement le meilleur album trash de tous les temps, un son énorme, une technique irréprochable, la folie pure.Que dire de plus, à écouter d'urgence pour les amateurs du genre, ce serait vraiment dommage de passer à coté d'une telle perle.