Testament | Formation Of Damnation

May 3, 2008 by Scott

I was going to do a review for Testaments new release The Formation Of Damnation of this earlier this week on Wednesday, but I didn’t have a chance to listen to it very much and I didn’t want to make a quick review on this like I did with the Children Of Bodom Blooddrunk Album. This was a bit different though. I liked this right from the start.

I can’t sit here and try to compare it to older or newer Testament records because I don’t have any and I only recently became a fan after buying The Very Best Of Testament. What I can say from listening to that cd is that Formation mixes it up a bit but stays true to form.

Formation starts off with For The Glory Of…a cool heavy groove instrumental that lasts about a minute and 12 seconds and then goes right into More Than Meets The Eye. More than meets the eye is a heavy song with great solos from Skolnick and Peterson and has a short but catchy anthem like “whao-oh-ah-oh”. The Evil Has Landed is about 9/11. The lyrics don’t bounce around and are straight forward. The Formation Of Damnation is just a bad ass song with strong political messages. fast forward to The Persecuted Won’t Forget, a fast chugging, thrash song. Henchmen Ride is an anthem to The Henchmen motorcycle club. Killing Season…a war song from the eyes of a soldier. Afterlife, if I am of mistaken was pretty much a tribute to Eric Peterson late father and what his father taught him and seeing him in the afterlife. The remaining songs are good as well.

Lyrically Formation Of Damnation is not over creative but still get the point across. The guitars keep it heavy and thrashy. Paul Bostaph is an unbelievable drummer and does an amazing job. It’s nice to see a bunch of 40 something year old guys being able to keep their reunite as a well oiled machine as if they didn’t miss a beat. I think most Testament fans old and new will like Formation. 4 for 4 for Formation Of Damnation