Metal Reviews

.....there it is! And normalcy is restored once more.

Hexen is better than Testament.

Hexen is fucking excellent. But you're talking about two vastly different approaches to thrash. Weird and unnecessary comparison. What inspired you to make that comparison?

Hexen is better than Testament
Van der Graaf Generator is better than Limbonic Art
Bob Marley is far better than every metal album ever made, except from perhaps a few obscure thrash bands.
Fiona Apple is the greatest musician in humankind history, and that avatar isn't creepy.

He can and will make all 'weird and unnecessary comparisons' he wants, and you'd just better go along with what the grand arbiter of music decrees.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=emSdalH-qLc

It's as weird as Devy's with Tankard, ain"t it?
And not too dissimilar when taking into account Testament's finest album, The Legacy, both are melodic and solo-oriented.

What is wrong with Tankard exactly?

This is very very true. The new Testament song sounds ok, but as is the case with most thrash metal bands, the chorus is totally retarded. How many times can you shout the title of the song? I love thrash metal, but I have to admit that even back in the day it was one of the more unimaginative styles of heavy metal. Thrash metal will always be inferior because of the neanderthal vocals, and this is a classic example of why you should try and develop the vocal lines a little bit more. Shit, I could sing for Testament....and probably write better lyrics too. This is not what I look for in a band.

One of the main reasons Thrash tends to be a genre I always keep away from.

Out should check out Paradox from Germany. Awesome thrash songs with tremendous vocal arrangements.

Yeah, but the basis for his comparison was that Tankard's album comes out in the same week as Testament's and is getting only a fraction of the attention. Yours was more out of the blue. I was just curious.



Fair enough if you think shouting the name of a song during a chorus is unimaginative , I can accept that. But to say that thrash in general is a lesser form of metal because of undeveloped vocal lines is borderline ridiculous. How are thrash vocals any less monotonous than the constant low end rumble of a death growl? Similarly, many Black metal vocalists have got exactly one tone that they know how to shriek in. These observations obviously don't apply to all bands, but I'll generalize broadly since that's what you've done in regards to thrash. No offence or anything coz I say this purely in the spirit of conversation but I just don'tsesee how you could say thrash as a genre has neanderthal vocals in light of the positively retarded vocals which can sometimes be heard in the other extreme genres.

And saying you could sing better than chuck billy is also a little presumptuous. What he does is really hard. Take a recording device and record yourself yelling at the top of your lungs to some music. It might seem like it's easy but it really isn't. It takes an enormous amount of technique to do what he does without blowing out the human voice. If you don't know exactly how to do it properly, besides ruining your voice, you will sound like a dying cow trying by just trying to shout aggressively. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

And as for saying thrash lyrics are stupid ....come on! If you listen to other genres outside if metal, as most of us do, you know that 95% of extreme metal lyrics are fucking retarded. Yes, we know, You hate God! Yes we know, the human race is a cancer on the earth! Yes, we know, you dream of righteous murder! That's hardly an argument against thrash...more like an argument against metal.

I don't really listen to Black Metal, but I love Death Metal and listen to heaps of it, so I just want to clarify: this is not an argument against those other genres. All I'm saying is that exactly the same pitfalls are present in the other extreme genres. It's not exclusive to thrash by any means.

I've never really listened to Testament but I am digging the song. *shrug*

Oh don't get me wrong, I find death metal and black metal vocals and lyrics retarded for the most part as well.

I like actual singing and melodies. This is why traditional 80's metal in my opinion has never been surpassed.

And I"m sorry, what Chuck Billy does is not difficult. His lyrics are stupid and his choruses and verses are unimaginative at best. And please don't think this is a slight against thrash metal. As with all things, there are exceptions. Sabbat had truly masterful lyrics and vocals as well as Paradox and Vendetta to a certain extent. While I do also like thrash metal bands with retarded lyrics, I tend to reserve my satisfaction of bands like that for ones that appeared when the music was new and fresh. In my opinion, bands like Testament can't and shouldn't get away with rehashed shouting choruses with stupid lyrics. It's tired and lame and that's how I feel about new Testament. The music itself is not bad, but the vocals make me not want to listen to it.

Of course I agree, although I wouldn't limit it to traditional heavy metal; one of the biggest reasons black metal (as opposed to death metal, for example) appeals to me is when it is done correctly it would have fit right in with that era.