@@DeadRingerMachine Awesome man. Killer lineup. Lombardo back on the skins too. I love Exodus, but I’m a huge Death Angel fan. One of the biggest underrated bands in Metal history if you ask me.
Greatest Thrash Metal band ever in my opinion!! I love all their albums including The Ritual and Demonic. 12. Demonic 11. The Ritual 10. Titans Of Creation 9. Brotherhood Of The Snake 8. The Formation Of Damnation 7. Dark Roots Of The Earth 6. Low 5. Souls Of Black 4. The Gathering 3. Practice What You Preach 2. The New Order 1. The Legacy
Clicked on this video faster than Gene Hoglan’s feet. Sea of Tranquility rules 🤘 Testament is one of the greatest metal bands ever, incredibly consistent catalog quality-wise.
Great Band. My Ranking: 1- Practice What You Preach 2- The Legacy 3- The Ritual 4- The Gathering 5- Dark Roots Of Earth 6- Souls Of Black 7- Brotherhood Of The Snake 8- The New Order 9- The Formation Of Damnation 10- Titans Of Creation 11- Low 12- Demonic
First to Pete and Steve, you guys and the rest of the crew have been a blessing during the pandemic keeping people entertained and informed. Testament has always been my favorite thrash metal band, they have performed vastly better than their more well advertised peers and simply have better written, better performed and better sounding material. No matter the brilliance of the other albums 'Low' is always going to be my favorite from the dedication to Criss Oliva to the incredible production of GGGarth this is the record for me.
Low is a very special album for me. I was 16 years old when it came out. I remember seeing the video for Low on MTV'S Headbanger's Ball, and loved it big time. I also love the live album that came out from that tour Live At The Filmore alot.
This is actually a pretty hard Ranking but for me. Testament is one of the few thrash bands that stayed consistently good. Souls of Black and Practice what you Preach are their 2 most complete albums to me.
Thanks guys! Been waiting for this and I have also enjoyed revisiting these albums. Was really into Testament '87 to '90, then when they returned in '08...wow! 1. Practice What You Preach 1989 2. The Gathering 1999 3. Dark Roots of Earth 2012 4. Low 1994 5. Titans of Creation 2020 6. The Legacy 1987 7. Souls of Black 1990 8. The Formation of the Damnation 2008 9. The New Order 1988 10. Brotherhood of the Snake 2016 11. The Ritual 1992 12. Demonic 1997
Thank you , “Pete” and “Steve” for your picks. I picked my favorite Top 5. 5. Dark Roots of Earth 4. Titans of Creation 3. The Gathering 2. Practice What You Preach 1. The New Order 🎼🎤🎸🎵🥁
So glad you finally did this one. Testament was and is one of the best thrash bands ever. They haven't put out any bad albums so you really can't go wrong. Here's my ranking: 1. Gathering 2. New Order 3. Titans of Creation 4. Low 5. Practice What You Preach 6. The Ritual 7. Formation of Dalmatian 8. Legacy 9. Dark Roots 10. Demonic 11. Brotherhood of The Snake 12. Souls of Black
I think The Ritual is massively underrated, proven by Pete ranking it last. Some absolute catchy barnstormers on that one. Electric Crown absolutely rules.
I fully agree. It would easily be in my top five, if not my top three. It certainly has one of my favorite Testament songs in Return to Serenity, a song that could easily have made the band if it had come out just a year or two earlier, instead of during the height of the grunge era. Plus, it does have some great stompers out there. Nothing that is all out-thrash, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The gathering is #1 for me. I really like first strike still deadly as well. They re recorded a bunch of the the early classics and it sounds incredible.
AGREED! That was THEIR finest moment INDEED!! As much as I like stuff after it, he nailed it. It is indeed Testaments finest moment. Thank you for reminding me that that little teenager in me is smarter than this hopefully smarter guy or whatever I'm at middle-age. (It's ALL Chuck Billy's fault, DAMMIT!)
"The New Order" is probably my favourite, but frankly some of the modern stuff has just been fantastic. I'd go as far as to say that "The Brotherhood Of The Snake" is one of the best thrash albums of the 2010's.
They're my two favourites too. I'd put "The Gathering" at number 3. Extremely heavy album with Lombardo on drums and James Murphy (formerly of Death) on guitar.
I love all three of these albums. I was actually shocked at how much I got into "Demonic," because many of their fans seem to hate it! I think it's a monster of an album! It's probably their heaviest overall.
I love them all and I agree the hardest part was ranking my bottom half, all are excellent albums, I love the newest ones so I may have some of those higher than many. Here's my rankings though: 1 - The Legacy 2 - The New Order 3 - Titans Of Creation 4 - The Gathering 5 - Dark Roots Of Earth 6 - Souls Of Black 7 - Brotherhood Of The Snake 8 - The Formation Of Damnation 9 - Low 10 - Practice What You Preach 11 - Demonic 12 - The Ritual
Awesome episode Pete :) Steve is such a cool guy🤘 My ranking : 1. The New Order 2. The Legacy 3. Low (My first album) 4. Practice What you Preach 5. The Ritual 6. Souls of Black
The New Order has always been my favorite. As soon as I heard Trial By Fire, I was hooked. The Ritual is also amazing. I met them at a signing during that tour. Nice group of guys.
Great show very well done!!! Testament such a consistently phenomenal band. In my humble opinion they blow right past Anthrax and Slayer and join Metallica and Megadeath to make up the big three of thrash metal. With a strong honorable mention to Overkill. The Legacy and the New Order are my favorites but really the entire catalog is epic.
Woah, Pete actually did it. Great stuff! I'm a huge fan of slow Testament, so for me it goes... 1. The Ritual 2. Practice What You Preach 3. Titans of Creation 4. Formation of Damnation I love the rest too, but to me The Ritual is a hidden treasure, but it might take some people reappraisal. It has aged insanely well.
I've seen Testament live ten times over the years: seven times between 1989 and 1997, and three times between 2012 and 2017. They have always been amazing, particularly Chuck Billy, whose voice sounds even stronger today than it did in the early 90's.
I confess i dont like thrash metal, but i like the ballad songs like the legacy, and trial of tears. Love melody with my heavy rock, and metal. Great to see the passion for the genre.
I'm going to do a Top 5, I like almost All of the Testament Albums, I like these 5 the most. 5 - The Ritual 4 - The Legacy 3 - Practice what You Preach 2 - The New Order 1 - Souls of Black Alex Skolnick 👍
I agree with you guys so much on Testament being one of the best thrash metal bands. The New Order has to be my fave. I listened to this twice today. Once on the way to work, and once on the way back. Love their newer stuff too. Nice show guys.
Great show Pete and Stephen!! first off I had great tix last year for Testament in Long Island, but of course Covid fucked that up Testament is my all time fave Thrash band and on of my fave bands period!! this list like you guys said is very hard since i love all their albums and changes at times... my top 10 Practice What You Preach Souls Of Black Titans of Creation Low The legacy Brotherhood of the Snake Demonic Formation of Damnation ( great Metal Masters Tour with Priest, Heaven Hell & Motherhead) Dark Roots The Gathering Honorable Mention: The Ritual
Also funny how one of the big four went missing after bob rocking a commercial worldwide seller, tried to come back to metal well over a decade, almost two (not even saying thrash metal here), but were never quite a thrash band ever again (imo). And then, you've got Exodus, Testament and Overkill. Go figure, cause I sure can't.
Maybe we should do an episode where everybody decides/shares which thrash band they'd add if it was instead the "big five", along with a couple honorable mentions (in case we wanna also consider who'd be the "big seven")?
Okay, I'm going to cut myself off, and thank you for agreeing with my initial opinion of the 1992 album" being a hiccup" as you call it. 1 million % agree
My ranking for the Testament albums would be🤘 12. Low 1994 11. Demonic 1997 10. The Ritual 1992 9. Brotherhood Of The Snake 2016 8. Souls Of Black 1990 7. Dark Roots Of Earth 2012 6. Titans Of Creation 2020 5. The Gathering 1999 4. The Formation Of Damnation 2008 3. The Legacy 1987 2. The New Order 1988 1. Practice What You Preach 1989
From the first listen to The Ritual.....that was it for me . Fell in love with the pounding drums and the face slapping riffs . In my opinion it's a solid album with no fillers. It's easily in my top five albums of all time ....always has been . Pete doesn't seem to like it that much but I guess it all depends on our mood when we first listen to new albums . Guess we all can't be blown away with the same bands and albums .....that would be damn boring lol
Great show! 12: Brotherhood of the Snake 11: Demonic 10: Low 9: Formation of Damnation 8: The Ritual 7: Titans of Creations 6: The Gathering 5: Souls of Black 4: The Legacy 3: Dark Roots of Earth 2: The New Order 1: Practice What you Preach
Chuck did his finest singing from Souls to The Ritual, solid vocal melodies at the time. Could never get into his growling from 93 on, specially when he incorporates it into the old stuff live. And this is coming from a death metal fan.
Having recently discovered Testiment and not having a special bond with their early albums, I think Titans is far and away their best. Every song except maybe Healers and Catacombs is awesome.
Musically, Titans is excellent. Lyrically though, I have no idea what they were trying to go for. Bottom self album for me but I'm glad most people seem to like it.
Low is amazing and still holds up. It came out as i was entering my metal renaissance as a teen in the 90's, along with Burn My Eyes and Far Beyond Driven, it defined the freewheeling 90's groovy thrash that still makes me happy.
Ps:I also love the Live album Testament Live at the Filmore. It has a great array of songs and the 3 acoustic tracks at the end. It's Heavy and James Murphy top notch. 🤘
Just saw Testament with Kreator end of September. Best Testament setlist EVER. Can’t believe this band still lies in the shadows of more popular bands. These guys are TWICE the band as there more popular counterparts.
One of my favorite thrash bands! I like all of their albums. Here´s my ranking.. 12. Demonic 11. Low 10. The Ritual 9. Titans of Creation (loved it when it came out, but I overplayed it) 8. The Gathering 7. Dark Roots of Earth 6. The New Order 5. The Legacy 4. Brotherhood of the Snake 3. Souls of Black 2. Formation of Damnation 1. Practice What You Preach That was really hard to do, especially top 7.
Great ranking. Agree 💯 the newer ones since Alex's comeback are quite hard to beat, probably equal to those from the eighties. Nervosa's new album is amazing. Kudos to the new lineup with my comrade Diva Satánica fronting the band.
I have been waiting for this one since you ranked Testament songs with Caffrey and Steve in his shop. Thought for sure Chris would sit in on this one. Great job on one of THE GREATEST Metal bands Evah !
I honestly haven't really enjoyed anything they did after Killing Seasons. I don't like the productions, and they lost of a lot flavors in their song writing that they had when it was the other line up. I sold everything I had after Killing Seasons.
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 The first three Death Angel albums are classics. I would put Ultra Violence right beside Ride the Lightning and The Legacy. Act 3 was probably Death Angel at their peak writing, and should be talked about in the same breath as a lot of classics that came out in 1990
@@Gregbaltzer I agree completely. The post-reunion albums are good, but they miss some of that character the early lineup had. If you enjoy Act III, their side project The Organization has some of that flavor, but stretches out to other genres a bit more, fir better or worse.
Great ranking guys. Also my fav thrash band, overkill not far behind. Absolutely love them all, but practice what you preach is my favorite. Thanks for sharing!🤟
I have never really been fond of the production of "The Ritual," but I absolutely love the songs. It was actually the first Testament album I'd bought.
Steve Keeler is becoming my favorite of the Hudson Valley Squares, very sober analysis, lots of information and witty sense of humor! my ranking of Testament's records is close to his.
Even though The New Order and The Legacy are so good, I really have enjoyed their newer material. I listen to Brotherhood of the Snake, The Gathering, and Titans of Creation a lot. Though for live, their Live in London 2005 concert can't be beat!
Thanks for the recommendations. Loved the Titans of Creation CD... what a treat. Years ago I saw Testament with (opener) Annihilator (Jeff Waters) in a small club. What a show. Brings back fond memories though the hearing loss has lasted a lifetime! Thanks again.
I saw Dublin Death Patrol (2007?) and my son and I met Zetro and Chuck backstage...what a night! Chuck signed my son's Practice What you Preach album... now framed...Zet was cool, Told my son to stick with school because Metalheads were smart!
Testament's The Gathering made me listen to the Death discography right after I finished their's. Was huge fan of Riding the Snake (its riff was monstrous) and still holds up extremely well - Fall of Sipledome and Hammer of the Gods mop up faces for nights on end.!
Weird... I searched this yesterday to see if you've done Testament yet and... here we are! Still building my Testament collection, so far only have the first six albums... can't even begin to rank those, don't know how you guys did all 12!
Top 5 1. The Ritual 2. Titans of Creation 3. Practice What You Preach 4. Dark Roots of the Earth 5. Souls of Black Pretty much like all of their albums except for Demonic.
Great show as always Pete and Steve, Testament easily one of the most consistent bands of all time. Yes Hudson Valley Squares is easily my favorite thing on tv/internet by a long way. Looking forward to the live stream. Btw speaking of Eddie Trunk, would love to see him in the celebrity chair on Hudson Valley Squares at some time. Love all your work Pete and Steve and all the Hudson Valley Squares.!!!!
There are two fan remastered versions of The New Order and The Legacy here on YT that do the songs/mix complete justice. They do away with the overload of “thin mids” those albums suffered from. Both sound absolutely incredible!
Great show. I need more Testament in my life and just ordered a couple cd's due to this show. BTW I was cranking that Nervosa cd just before watching this video and really digging it. Great stuff!
I had never heard of Testament until I bought the Souls of Black tape when it came out in 1990...based solely on the album cover (best metal album cover ever IMO). Been a huge fan ever since.
Ah Testament, I love this band. The favourite band for one of my older Brothers and it's a damn fine choice. A lot of really good albums, just a consistent band that knows how they like to write their songs and that is what they do. My number one is an easy choice and it has been my favourite for about as long as I have been a fan of this band. In the same vein, my least favourite album is the same one it has been for about the same amount of time I have enjoyed this band. I believe I got into this band when I was around 15 years old, so 2006. 1. The Gathering 2. The Legacy 3. Practice What You Preach 4. Low 5. The Formation of Damnation 6. Dark Roots of the Earth 7. The New Order 8. Titans of Creation 9. Brotherhood of the Snake 10. The Ritual 11. Souls of Black 12. Demonic Edit: Had to make a change between 5/6/7, initially had Formation at 7 but felt compelled to move that one to number 5 over New Order and Dark Roots. I whored the Formation album out a tonne upon its release.
Great band! Been listening to them since «The New Order» came out in ‘88. Not a big fan of «Demonic» and «The Gathering», but the rest is just pure gold. How about ranking the whole Anthrax catalogue?
I'll start buy saying - I like all of these albums to some degree, and most of them I like a lot. I would be happy to listen to any of them at any time. 12) Titans of Creation (Sounds like a bunch of the slower songs they kept off the last album. Needs more thrash) 11) The Ritual 10) Souls of Black 9) Low 8) The Formation of Damnation 7) Brotherhood of the Snake 6) Dark Roots of Earth 5) Demonic 4) The Gathering (I really like this era. Most bands went nu metal, Testament went almost death metal) 3) Practice What You Preach (Lots of nostalgic value for me) 2) The Legacy (This & "Practice..." could flip for me at any time) 1) The New Order Thanks, Steve n' Pete! Great band. Great video.
You guys rule! Good rankings too. I definitely agree with the top 2 from both of you. Also really do jam that Nervosa album! Just found them from Elliot's Little Punk People interview and it riffs real good indeed!
Great band! Thanks for this video. I need to get to know the middle albums better. Say...a good topic for a video would be the subject of ballads. I have heard Martin Popoff say he doesn’t like ballads at all. It would be a good topic for a video with him - or maybe the Hudson Valley Squares. A rant about what works - or doesn’t - about ballads. Where they work best on albums, what features are necessary to make them work, which bands are phenomenal at them, etc. Think about it. Thanks again for the great discussion!
Great video as always. The Ritual is higher on my list as I used to listen to that while playing The Secret of Monkey Island 2. With the time it took to do 'The 4 Map Pieces', I am sure you can imagine, The Ritual got a lot of listening time. The Gathering takes my number 1 spot. But you chaps are right, no bad albums here.
Absolutely agree that Testament & OverKill are 2 of the best catalogs in metal. No real hiccups in either. Also Gene's first appearance was Demonic not Dark Roots.
Ok I see what you meant. I think I remember in one of the metal magazines doing an interview with Testament when Demonic came out. They were kind of blindsided that Gene wasn't going to stay with them but was moving on to Strapping Young Lad. By the way Pete nice SYL shirt.
Very good show. I'm did just the same journey in the 80's. Listen too thrash and death. And i'm still into that music. Yes the new Nervosa album is just great.
"The Ritual" reminds me of Megadeth's "Youthanasia." But neither album should be slept on because holy shit there's some cool stuff on there. "Electric Crown" is a killer
I actually respectfully disagree. I think some of Overkill’s early work sounds pretty amateur. I know I’ll get lambasted for that, but I own it.haha And they more than made up for it in their later years. I think their first 3 all have a couple songs that sound a bit sophomoric and the production was pretty weak even for that time. Like I said though, they’re absolutely unbelievable nowadays. I think they’re the best thrash band around now.
I enjoy the early, raw Testament albums, but I don't have a very strong *emotional attachment to them* because I only really started listening to the band over the last few months, thanks to learning more about them through Sea of Tranquility videos. At this point, honestly, having heard and absorbed most of their albums, the best, most consistent one for me is their latest, "Titans of Creation." Such a strong album from a veteran band!!!
Death Angel is another one up there with Testament and Overkill who have been putting out amazing material lately.
ABSOLUTELY!
DA’s new stuff is unbelievable. I just say that I find their early work inconsistent, but that’s just me. Their latest few are fantastic.
I saw Testament last night (Apr 26) in ATL. Death Angel opened, followed by Exodus. Then Testament. A Bay Area invasion of the East Coast.
@@DeadRingerMachine Awesome man. Killer lineup. Lombardo back on the skins too. I love Exodus, but I’m a huge Death Angel fan. One of the biggest underrated bands in Metal history if you ask me.
Greatest Thrash Metal band ever in my opinion!! I love all their albums including The Ritual and Demonic.
12. Demonic
11. The Ritual
10. Titans Of Creation
9. Brotherhood Of The Snake
8. The Formation Of Damnation
7. Dark Roots Of The Earth
6. Low
5. Souls Of Black
4. The Gathering
3. Practice What You Preach
2. The New Order
1. The Legacy
It's crazy how good all the newer ones are. They definitely carry the torch for true thrash
Yeah, they are very consistent, best thrash band working today.
Them and Overkill are carrying the torch.
I totally agree. Great newer albums and live they are firing on all cylinders 🤘
Clicked on this video faster than Gene Hoglan’s feet. Sea of Tranquility rules 🤘 Testament is one of the greatest metal bands ever, incredibly consistent catalog quality-wise.
"The Gathering" is their Magnum Opus. Killer stuff with.. Dave Lombardo! It can't get much better than this. Masterpiece.
The Gathering is a masterpiece. My number one too.
And Lombardo is back in the band. Maybe we can hope The Cathering Part 2 😎🙌
@@JohnnyRaven69 you are one letter away from turning the title of the greatest deathened thrash album into "The Catering"
Great Band. My Ranking:
1- Practice What You Preach
2- The Legacy
3- The Ritual
4- The Gathering
5- Dark Roots Of Earth
6- Souls Of Black
7- Brotherhood Of The Snake
8- The New Order
9- The Formation Of Damnation
10- Titans Of Creation
11- Low
12- Demonic
Yep I like that ranking ....! That's probably the way I would put them and alot of my buddies too...
First to Pete and Steve, you guys and the rest of the crew have been a blessing during the pandemic keeping people entertained and informed. Testament has always been my favorite thrash metal band, they have performed vastly better than their more well advertised peers and simply have better written, better performed and better sounding material. No matter the brilliance of the other albums 'Low' is always going to be my favorite from the dedication to Criss Oliva to the incredible production of GGGarth this is the record for me.
Thanks!!!
Low is my favorite as well. Great production and their most diverse record in terms of Chuck's vocals and heaviness of the songs. Excellent record.
Low is a very special album for me. I was 16 years old when it came out. I remember seeing the video for Low on MTV'S Headbanger's Ball, and loved it big time. I also love the live album that came out from that tour Live At The Filmore alot.
This is actually a pretty hard Ranking but for me. Testament is one of the few thrash bands that stayed consistently good. Souls of Black and Practice what you Preach are their 2 most complete albums to me.
#1 - "The Legacy" - (1987)
#2 - "The New Order" - (1988)
#3 - "Practice What You Preach" - (1989)
#4 - "Souls of Black" - (1990)
#5 - "Formation of Damnation" - (2008)
#6 - "The Gathering" - (1999)
#7 - "Brotherhood of the Snake" - (2016)
#8 - "Titans of Creation" - (2020)
#9 - "Dark Roots of Earth" - (2012)
#10 - "Low" - (1994)
#11 - "The Ritual" - (1992)
#12 - "Demonic" - (1997)
My list would be fairly similar to yours other than Low is top 5 for me.
The New Order is their greatest album ,but i respect your ranking
Cool that Pete put Titans of Creation so high. It's a masterpiece.
Death Angel are another band who have consistently brought out strong releases and seem to be getting better and better
Thanks guys! Been waiting for this and I have also enjoyed revisiting these albums. Was really into Testament '87 to '90, then when they returned in '08...wow!
1. Practice What You Preach 1989
2. The Gathering 1999
3. Dark Roots of Earth 2012
4. Low 1994
5. Titans of Creation 2020
6. The Legacy 1987
7. Souls of Black 1990
8. The Formation of the Damnation 2008
9. The New Order 1988
10. Brotherhood of the Snake 2016
11. The Ritual 1992
12. Demonic 1997
Can we talk about how cool Steve Keeler is?
Are we going to finally acknowledge and celebrate that ?
He’s always been cool to me. No bs from him.
he mentioned he was a vocalist, any idea what the band was?
Thank you , “Pete” and “Steve” for your picks. I picked my favorite Top 5.
5. Dark Roots of Earth
4. Titans of Creation
3. The Gathering
2. Practice What You Preach
1. The New Order
🎼🎤🎸🎵🥁
So glad you finally did this one. Testament was and is one of the best thrash bands ever. They haven't put out any bad albums so you really can't go wrong. Here's my ranking:
1. Gathering
2. New Order
3. Titans of Creation
4. Low
5. Practice What You Preach
6. The Ritual
7. Formation of Dalmatian
8. Legacy
9. Dark Roots
10. Demonic
11. Brotherhood of The Snake
12. Souls of Black
I think The Ritual is massively underrated, proven by Pete ranking it last. Some absolute catchy barnstormers on that one. Electric Crown absolutely rules.
I fully agree. It would easily be in my top five, if not my top three. It certainly has one of my favorite Testament songs in Return to Serenity, a song that could easily have made the band if it had come out just a year or two earlier, instead of during the height of the grunge era. Plus, it does have some great stompers out there. Nothing that is all out-thrash, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
@@willd4731 But it's still a Testament album. Maybe different, but nonetheless a part of their career.
The gathering is #1 for me.
I really like first strike still deadly as well. They re recorded a bunch of the the early classics and it sounds incredible.
My number 1 is The Gathering! Testament is such a underrated band. Saw them twice. I was supposed to see them last spring.
The New Order is their greatest album.
Agreed
AGREED! That was THEIR finest moment INDEED!! As much as I like stuff after it, he nailed it. It is indeed Testaments finest moment. Thank you for reminding me that that little teenager in me is smarter than this hopefully smarter guy or whatever I'm at middle-age. (It's ALL Chuck Billy's fault, DAMMIT!)
"The New Order" is probably my favourite, but frankly some of the modern stuff has just been fantastic. I'd go as far as to say that "The Brotherhood Of The Snake" is one of the best thrash albums of the 2010's.
They're my two favourites too. I'd put "The Gathering" at number 3. Extremely heavy album with Lombardo on drums and James Murphy (formerly of Death) on guitar.
1. The Gathering
2. Demonic
3. Low
Love the mid period Testament. Martin could put me on The Contrarians for this ranking.
Low is definitely awesome.
I love all three of these albums. I was actually shocked at how much I got into "Demonic," because many of their fans seem to hate it! I think it's a monster of an album! It's probably their heaviest overall.
Demonic as your #2?? Come on dude....
This is the band that set the standard for thrash absolutely crushing stuff
Great video guys! How bout a future Death Angel, Clutch or Black Label Society ranking?
I love them all and I agree the hardest part was ranking my bottom half, all are excellent albums, I love the newest ones so I may have some of those higher than many. Here's my rankings though:
1 - The Legacy
2 - The New Order
3 - Titans Of Creation
4 - The Gathering
5 - Dark Roots Of Earth
6 - Souls Of Black
7 - Brotherhood Of The Snake
8 - The Formation Of Damnation
9 - Low
10 - Practice What You Preach
11 - Demonic
12 - The Ritual
Awesome episode Pete :) Steve is such a cool guy🤘
My ranking :
1. The New Order
2. The Legacy
3. Low (My first album)
4. Practice What you Preach
5. The Ritual
6. Souls of Black
The New Order and Practice What You Preach are my favorites.
The New Order has always been my favorite. As soon as I heard Trial By Fire, I was hooked. The Ritual is also amazing. I met them at a signing during that tour. Nice group of guys.
Chuck signed my son's Practice album...back stage at a DDP concert...
Great show very well done!!! Testament such a consistently phenomenal band. In my humble opinion they blow right past Anthrax and Slayer and join Metallica and Megadeath to make up the big three of thrash metal. With a strong honorable mention to Overkill. The Legacy and the New Order are my favorites but really the entire catalog is epic.
I loved Titans of Creation, can’t wait to explore others, thanks for doing this
Get on The Gathering...
Woah, Pete actually did it. Great stuff! I'm a huge fan of slow Testament, so for me it goes...
1. The Ritual
2. Practice What You Preach
3. Titans of Creation
4. Formation of Damnation
I love the rest too, but to me The Ritual is a hidden treasure, but it might take some people reappraisal. It has aged insanely well.
I've seen Testament live ten times over the years: seven times between 1989 and 1997, and three times between 2012 and 2017. They have always been amazing, particularly Chuck Billy, whose voice sounds even stronger today than it did in the early 90's.
I confess i dont like thrash metal, but i like the ballad songs like the legacy, and trial of tears. Love melody with my heavy rock, and metal. Great to see the passion for the genre.
Have you heard Return to Serenity??? It's off The Ritual
I'm going to do a Top 5, I like almost All of the Testament Albums, I like these 5 the most.
5 - The Ritual
4 - The Legacy
3 - Practice what You Preach
2 - The New Order
1 - Souls of Black
Alex Skolnick 👍
I agree with you guys so much on Testament being one of the best thrash metal bands. The New Order has to be my fave. I listened to this twice today. Once on the way to work, and once on the way back. Love their newer stuff too. Nice show guys.
How about a Flotsam & Jetsam ranking? Hugely underrated band, and there are some hidden gems in their catalog
Agreed...was just jamming Cuatro today...and Ugly Noise...
fan since '86
Agreed!! I love all their albums. Especially the first two Doomsday For The Deceiver and No Place For Disgrace.
Great list and great insights! Just now getting really into the band, although I've bought a few albums over the past few years. Awesome!
I love that guy. You’re a lovable Genius Steve ✊🏿🤘🏾🤎🖤 I Honestly think “ Low “ is their best album...”Formation “ next. And, “Practice “ 3.
Pete, some day - can you please rank Flotsam & Jetsam? They are worthy! 🤘
Rewatching this since Pete tonight is heading to the NJ show to see. Testament - Kreator. Cool 🆒 stuff. Thanks again Pete 👍💯
Great show Pete and Stephen!! first off I had great tix last year for Testament in Long Island, but of course Covid fucked that up
Testament is my all time fave Thrash band and on of my fave bands period!! this list like you guys said is very hard since i love all their albums and changes at times... my top 10
Practice What You Preach
Souls Of Black
Titans of Creation
Low
The legacy
Brotherhood of the Snake
Demonic
Formation of Damnation ( great Metal Masters Tour with Priest, Heaven Hell & Motherhead)
Dark Roots
The Gathering
Honorable Mention: The Ritual
The Big Four should be the Big Five... Testament belongs there.
Hell to the yeah!!!
They should at least replace Slayer now that they are gone
Also funny how one of the big four went missing after bob rocking a commercial worldwide seller, tried to come back to metal well over a decade, almost two (not even saying thrash metal here), but were never quite a thrash band ever again (imo). And then, you've got Exodus, Testament and Overkill. Go figure, cause I sure can't.
Maybe we should do an episode where everybody decides/shares which thrash band they'd add if it was instead the "big five", along with a couple honorable mentions (in case we wanna also consider who'd be the "big seven")?
@@seaoftranquilityprog... and New Order is #1
Still have their original demo cassette when they were known as Legacy. Seen them a bunch. Good show guys!
I never really got into and appreciated thrash until I heard Testament. They are king IMO!
Okay, I'm going to cut myself off, and thank you for agreeing with my initial opinion of the 1992 album" being a hiccup" as you call it. 1 million % agree
My ranking for the Testament albums would be🤘
12. Low 1994
11. Demonic 1997
10. The Ritual 1992
9. Brotherhood Of The Snake 2016
8. Souls Of Black 1990
7. Dark Roots Of Earth 2012
6. Titans Of Creation 2020
5. The Gathering 1999
4. The Formation Of Damnation 2008
3. The Legacy 1987
2. The New Order 1988
1. Practice What You Preach 1989
Great show guys ......
My top three by Testament...3rd Souls of Black .....2nd Practice what you preach........and number one .........The Ritual ! 🤘👍
The Ritual is awesome!
From the first listen to The Ritual.....that was it for me . Fell in love with the pounding drums and the face slapping riffs . In my opinion it's a solid album with no fillers. It's easily in my top five albums of all time ....always has been . Pete doesn't seem to like it that much but I guess it all depends on our mood when we first listen to new albums . Guess we all can't be blown away with the same bands and albums .....that would be damn boring lol
Thanks for ranking the studio discography of testement!
Their last album was one of the records of the year. Massive respect to them
Titans of creation is fn great
This definitely makes me want to get into the catalog again.
The New Order was my introduction to Testament and it is my favorite. A true masterpiece of an album
Great show!
12: Brotherhood of the Snake
11: Demonic
10: Low
9: Formation of Damnation
8: The Ritual
7: Titans of Creations
6: The Gathering
5: Souls of Black
4: The Legacy
3: Dark Roots of Earth
2: The New Order
1: Practice What you Preach
Dark Roots is my fav. Not really a thrash fan but this just clicked with me.
Chuck did his finest singing from Souls to The Ritual, solid vocal melodies at the time. Could never get into his growling from 93 on, specially when he incorporates it into the old stuff live. And this is coming from a death metal fan.
Having recently discovered Testiment and not having a special bond with their early albums, I think Titans is far and away their best. Every song except maybe Healers and Catacombs is awesome.
Titans is an excellent album, no doubt about that, but it’s definitely not their best. Check out their early stuff. That’s where it’s really at!
Musically, Titans is excellent. Lyrically though, I have no idea what they were trying to go for. Bottom self album for me but I'm glad most people seem to like it.
Practice What You Preach is my favorite. I love the songwriting and the sound of the record.
That's my number 1 as well. I still need to hear a few more of their newer ones though.
Low is amazing and still holds up. It came out as i was entering my metal renaissance as a teen in the 90's, along with Burn My Eyes and Far Beyond Driven, it defined the freewheeling 90's groovy thrash that still makes me happy.
can't get enough of over the wall. amazing.
Ps:I also love the Live album Testament Live at the Filmore. It has a great array of songs and the 3 acoustic tracks at the end. It's Heavy and James Murphy top notch. 🤘
AGREED!!!
NERVOSA!!! Thank you for mentioning this,but the band's previous albums with Fernanda Lira on bass and on vocals are PHENOMENAL!!!!
Just saw Testament with Kreator end of September. Best Testament setlist EVER. Can’t believe this band still lies in the shadows of more popular bands. These guys are TWICE the band as there more popular counterparts.
Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, Overkill, Exodus - Big 8....Death Angel....man so many good ones
One of my favorite thrash bands! I like all of their albums. Here´s my ranking..
12. Demonic
11. Low
10. The Ritual
9. Titans of Creation (loved it when it came out, but I overplayed it)
8. The Gathering
7. Dark Roots of Earth
6. The New Order
5. The Legacy
4. Brotherhood of the Snake
3. Souls of Black
2. Formation of Damnation
1. Practice What You Preach
That was really hard to do, especially top 7.
Good ranking guys much love goes out to my brothers
Great ranking. Agree 💯 the newer ones since Alex's comeback are quite hard to beat, probably equal to those from the eighties. Nervosa's new album is amazing. Kudos to the new lineup with my comrade Diva Satánica fronting the band.
I have been waiting for this one since you ranked Testament songs with Caffrey and Steve in his shop. Thought for sure Chris would sit in on this one. Great job on one of THE GREATEST Metal bands Evah !
Don’t forget about Death Angel. Since they reformed its been one winner after another.
I honestly haven't really enjoyed anything they did after Killing Seasons. I don't like the productions, and they lost of a lot flavors in their song writing that they had when it was the other line up. I sold everything I had after Killing Seasons.
@@Gregbaltzer boo-urns!
I never understood why this band gets so much love.
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 The first three Death Angel albums are classics. I would put Ultra Violence right beside Ride the Lightning and The Legacy. Act 3 was probably Death Angel at their peak writing, and should be talked about in the same breath as a lot of classics that came out in 1990
@@Gregbaltzer I agree completely. The post-reunion albums are good, but they miss some of that character the early lineup had. If you enjoy Act III, their side project The Organization has some of that flavor, but stretches out to other genres a bit more, fir better or worse.
Great ranking guys. Also my fav thrash band, overkill not far behind. Absolutely love them all, but practice what you preach is my favorite. Thanks for sharing!🤟
I have never really been fond of the production of "The Ritual," but I absolutely love the songs. It was actually the first Testament album I'd bought.
1992!
Steve Keeler is becoming my favorite of the Hudson Valley Squares, very sober analysis, lots of information and witty sense of humor! my ranking of Testament's records is close to his.
Even though The New Order and The Legacy are so good, I really have enjoyed their newer material. I listen to Brotherhood of the Snake, The Gathering, and Titans of Creation a lot. Though for live, their Live in London 2005 concert can't be beat!
Pete Pardo - Testament & Overkill have the strongest discography start to finish.
AMEN!
The Evil Has Landed BLEW me away back in '08. I was also glad Chuck got his health back such amazing metal vocals...
Thanks for the recommendations. Loved the Titans of Creation CD... what a treat. Years ago I saw Testament with (opener) Annihilator (Jeff Waters) in a small club. What a show. Brings back fond memories though the hearing loss has lasted a lifetime! Thanks again.
I saw Dublin Death Patrol (2007?) and my son and I met Zetro and Chuck backstage...what a night! Chuck signed my son's Practice What you Preach album... now framed...Zet was cool, Told my son to stick with school because Metalheads were smart!
Testament's The Gathering made me listen to the Death discography right after I finished their's. Was huge fan of Riding the Snake (its riff was monstrous) and still holds up extremely well - Fall of Sipledome and Hammer of the Gods mop up faces for nights on end.!
Weird... I searched this yesterday to see if you've done Testament yet and... here we are!
Still building my Testament collection, so far only have the first six albums... can't even begin to rank those, don't know how you guys did all 12!
Top 5
1. The Ritual
2. Titans of Creation
3. Practice What You Preach
4. Dark Roots of the Earth
5. Souls of Black
Pretty much like all of their albums except for Demonic.
@Steve don't forget about The Sermon from The Ritual, that song rules.
Great show as always Pete and Steve, Testament easily one of the most consistent bands of all time.
Yes Hudson Valley Squares is easily my favorite thing on tv/internet by a long way.
Looking forward to the live stream.
Btw speaking of Eddie Trunk, would love to see him in the celebrity chair on Hudson Valley Squares at some time. Love all your work Pete and Steve and all the Hudson Valley Squares.!!!!
Top 5
1. The Legacy
2. The New Order
3. Low
4. Titans of Creation
5. The Gathering
But all are good!
There are two fan remastered versions of The New Order and The Legacy here on YT that do the songs/mix complete justice. They do away with the overload of “thin mids” those albums suffered from. Both sound absolutely incredible!
Great show. I need more Testament in my life and just ordered a couple cd's due to this show. BTW I was cranking that Nervosa cd just before watching this video and really digging it. Great stuff!
"The Ritual" is fantastic. Give it another spin or 5 Pete!
I had never heard of Testament until I bought the Souls of Black tape when it came out in 1990...based solely on the album cover (best metal album cover ever IMO). Been a huge fan ever since.
Ah Testament, I love this band. The favourite band for one of my older Brothers and it's a damn fine choice. A lot of really good albums, just a consistent band that knows how they like to write their songs and that is what they do. My number one is an easy choice and it has been my favourite for about as long as I have been a fan of this band. In the same vein, my least favourite album is the same one it has been for about the same amount of time I have enjoyed this band. I believe I got into this band when I was around 15 years old, so 2006.
1. The Gathering
2. The Legacy
3. Practice What You Preach
4. Low
5. The Formation of Damnation
6. Dark Roots of the Earth
7. The New Order
8. Titans of Creation
9. Brotherhood of the Snake
10. The Ritual
11. Souls of Black
12. Demonic
Edit: Had to make a change between 5/6/7, initially had Formation at 7 but felt compelled to move that one to number 5 over New Order and Dark Roots. I whored the Formation album out a tonne upon its release.
The next metal band you should ranked the albums is Anthrax!
Great band! Been listening to them since «The New Order» came out in ‘88. Not a big fan of «Demonic» and «The Gathering», but the rest is just pure gold.
How about ranking the whole Anthrax catalogue?
I'll start buy saying - I like all of these albums to some degree, and most of them I like a lot. I would be happy to listen to any of them at any time.
12) Titans of Creation (Sounds like a bunch of the slower songs they kept off the last album. Needs more thrash)
11) The Ritual
10) Souls of Black
9) Low
8) The Formation of Damnation
7) Brotherhood of the Snake
6) Dark Roots of Earth
5) Demonic
4) The Gathering (I really like this era. Most bands went nu metal, Testament went almost death metal)
3) Practice What You Preach (Lots of nostalgic value for me)
2) The Legacy (This & "Practice..." could flip for me at any time)
1) The New Order
Thanks, Steve n' Pete! Great band. Great video.
You guys rule! Good rankings too. I definitely agree with the top 2 from both of you. Also really do jam that Nervosa album! Just found them from Elliot's Little Punk People interview and it riffs real good indeed!
Good commentary fellas ! Another great program .....
As a Fear Factory fan, i can agree on Gene Hoglan! A welcome guest spot. Man is superhuman.
Great band! Thanks for this video. I need to get to know the middle albums better. Say...a good topic for a video would be the subject of ballads. I have heard Martin Popoff say he doesn’t like ballads at all. It would be a good topic for a video with him - or maybe the Hudson Valley Squares. A rant about what works - or doesn’t - about ballads. Where they work best on albums, what features are necessary to make them work, which bands are phenomenal at them, etc. Think about it. Thanks again for the great discussion!
Great video as always. The Ritual is higher on my list as I used to listen to that while playing The Secret of Monkey Island 2. With the time it took to do 'The 4 Map Pieces', I am sure you can imagine, The Ritual got a lot of listening time. The Gathering takes my number 1 spot. But you chaps are right, no bad albums here.
Absolutely agree that Testament & OverKill are 2 of the best catalogs in metal. No real hiccups in either. Also Gene's first appearance was Demonic not Dark Roots.
Correct. I was thinking more as a full time member.
Ok I see what you meant. I think I remember in one of the metal magazines doing an interview with Testament when Demonic came out. They were kind of blindsided that Gene wasn't going to stay with them but was moving on to Strapping Young Lad. By the way Pete nice SYL shirt.
I would argue (humbly) that Flotsam & Jetsam have a stronger catalog than Overkill...and I love Overkill
Very good show. I'm did just the same journey in the 80's. Listen too thrash and death. And i'm still into that music. Yes the new Nervosa album is just great.
"The Ritual" reminds me of Megadeth's "Youthanasia." But neither album should be slept on because holy shit there's some cool stuff on there. "Electric Crown" is a killer
My top 5 in NO particular order:
The New Order
The Legacy
Titans Of Creation
Formation Of Damnation
The Gathering
Testament and possibly Overkill are the only thrash bands that haven't put out any really shitty records
I actually respectfully disagree. I think some of Overkill’s early work sounds pretty amateur. I know I’ll get lambasted for that, but I own it.haha And they more than made up for it in their later years. I think their first 3 all have a couple songs that sound a bit sophomoric and the production was pretty weak even for that time. Like I said though, they’re absolutely unbelievable nowadays. I think they’re the best thrash band around now.
@@KickflipGnasty I don't disagree but every other thrash band had embarrassing moments early in their career. Especially the big four
@@docdeens4030 Megadeth’s first 5 were all pretty amazing I’d say. I would agree the others all had weak moments in their early career.
I enjoy the early, raw Testament albums, but I don't have a very strong *emotional attachment to them* because I only really started listening to the band over the last few months, thanks to learning more about them through Sea of Tranquility videos. At this point, honestly, having heard and absorbed most of their albums, the best, most consistent one for me is their latest, "Titans of Creation." Such a strong album from a veteran band!!!
Love Titans Of Creation, it's in my top 3.
Great episode guys. Other than the top 2 I think most people would have wildly different orders. Great band.