Testament - Para Bellum (2025)

People surrounding me (both in meatspace and cyberspace) absolutely lost their shit over this album, and I can't count how many times I was asked if I had 'heard the new Testament' record. And I HAD heard a track or two, and was a little confused over the hype, not that I disliked the material, but from the way people were speaking about it I thought this was the second coming of The Legacy or The New Order. Granted, I am an odd duck with regards to this band's catalogue. The Ritual is my favorite, with its washed out, heavy metal leanings, not at all typical of their output, and appreciated by few; but I do also really love that first run of three albums, as well as others (Formation of Damnation) which hearken back to that very sound. So I allowed myself to get excited...

And I probably shouldn't have. This is a Testament album, through and through, with a few stylistic embellishments that are added to try and round it out, namely the more black metal and death metal elements. It's not their first rodeo with the latter, records like Low and Demonic walked that line, and often quite well, but the black metal here in "For the Love of Pain", obviously included as some sort of paean to Eric Peterson's run in Dragonlord, feels fresh. It's well performed, with incredibly drumming from Chris Dovas as well as Chuck Billy adapting his unmistakable voice with ease. But I don't think it actually adds anything I was really expecting to hear, even with Steve DiGiorgio laying in some awesome swerving bass lines to give it a more unique feel. Para Bellum is far, far better when it's sticking to the thrash that put them on the map, that's where I can really appreciate Chuck's more melodic chorus parts, and there are a bunch of tracks I enjoyed like "Witch Hunt", "Shadow People", and the awesome titular closer which is probably my favorite of the bunch with the technical riffing from Eric and Alex.

The ballad, "Meant to Be", clearly a callback to some of my fave material from The Ritual, doesn't quite land with me, but overall I think Para Bellum is a better listen than Titans of Creation. That album was rock solid, doing what Testament do, but it didn't impact me beyond the surface level. I think all the musicians in Testament are flexing a lot more throughout this record, and that's where the most curious details lie, because it rewards you for a number of listens with something you might not have noticed. I also think there's an EP worth of top shelf songwriting present, but even then none of the chorus parts or riffs necessarily stand out against their classics. Production and performances are exceptional, and so this is worth picking up for that alone, but it never amounted to AOTY material for me, despites its numerous strengths and the utter perseverance of this band to sound as energetic as it still does. That aspect of Para Bellum is humbling, for sure, and maybe the rest of this will grow on me more.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.testamentlegions.com/site/