Album review: Testament's "The Formation of Damnation"

Bay Area thrashers Testament spent the '90s in the underground, culminating in 1999's hidden classic "The Gathering." Its all-star lineup was almost inconsequential next to its rock-solid songs. It was the heaviest, most bracing thrash album released during the heyday of nü-metal, let alone from a veteran "second-tier" band.

Nine years later, vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson finally succeed their late-career masterwork by welcoming lead guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Greg Christian back to the fold. As if that 1999 disc didn't create enough expectation for a follow-up, "Formation" nearly reunites the "classic" Testament lineup (with drums by Paul Bostaph of Forbidden and Slayer fame).

If this disc was a stinker, the band would be done. Thankfully, it's anything but, bridging the gap between the crushing death metal-ish brutality of "The Gathering" with the more nimble and melodic slant of their '80s work.

From high-throttle ragers like "The Persecuted Won't Forget" and the title track to the insistent midpaced chug of "More Than Meets the Eye" and "Killing Season," the band plays to their strengths. Billy delivers demonic roars and sonorous croons in all the right spots, while Skolnick's smooth, jazzy solos provide the characteristic piece missing from Testament since his departure. The only dated element is the Sept. 11-themed lyrics of "The Evil Has Landed," and even those aren't corny.

There's nothing on "Formation" that Testament fans haven't heard before, but they've never heard it all on one album. "Formation" is truly a career-defining disc and will surely find its way onto many year-end best lists not due to nostalgia but because it's virtually timeless thrash by pros who care about what they're doing. Even if it's bound to sell a lot more ringtones, there's simply no way the impending Metallica platter can hope to match its quality.

Testament, "The Formation of Damnation" (Nuclear Blast) 3½ stars

-- Jeff Pizek