The Formation of Damnation by Testament

*The Formation of Damnation* finds Testament’s original lineup (minus drummer Louis Clemente) coming together for the first time since 1992. The album is exactly what it needs to be: a reiteration of Testament’s patented Eighties thrash, injected with a renewed rage to match the meanness of the contemporary metal scene. Even though the band members are in their forties now, they sound positively fearsome on tracks like “Henchmen Ride,” “The Evil Has Landed,” and “The Persecuted Won’t Forget.” Having beat cancer, singer Chuck Billy comes on with a furor almost unmatched in today’s metal scene. While the title track features him in full-on grindcore growl, he thankfully revives his swaggering Testament throat for the majority of the tracks. It\'s hard to envision any band pulling off a merger of vintage thrash and contemporary attitude this masterful, and the fact that this no-filler album is the comeback work a 25-year-old band only makes *The Formation of Damnation* more impactful.

Discover The Formation of Damnation by Testament released in 2008. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

9 / 10

We never knew how much we'd miss armchair-quarterbacking on the rocky road of TESTAMENT's career until it was replaced by a nine-year flatline. We all debated when and why the band fell off their seemingly divine fast track to stadium stardom (let's get it out in the open now — "Souls of Black" was...

4.0 / 5

Testament - The Formation of Damnation review: Testament aren't reinventing the wheel, but they do a great job integrating their early material with the more modern sound of their previous album,