Testament - The New Order review
| Band: | Testament |
| Album: | The New Order |
| Style: | Bay Area thrash metal |
| Release date: | May 1988 |
01. Eerie Inhabitants
02. The New Order
03. Trial By Fire
04. Into The Pit
05. Hypnosis
06. Disciples Of The Watch
07. The Preacher
08. Nobody's Fault [Aerosmith cover]
09. A Day Of Reckoning
10. Musical Death (A Dirge)
I have scrapped and then returned to this review so many times - the more and more I listen to this album, the more I hear Testament copying themselves and other bands, so this time I'll spare the details and save a few hundred words.
The bulk of what we have here is groove-based thrash; tracks 4 and 7 are the most straight-out speedsters but even then it's only for half the song. The beginnings of tracks 1 3 and 6 are passable Malmsteen-like sections that completely disrupt the thrashmosphere and don't even have much to do with the songs they introduce. On top of that, the band does something similar for the entirety of tracks 5 and 10. What in the name of Zoldon were they thinking? "Let's rip off Ride the Lightning again and end with an evil instrumental!" Nice try, but you FORGOT the EVIL! Bands, producers, and anyone else with influence needs to know that four minutes of depressed guitar noodling is not how you close a thrash album. Bad Testament, bad!
The exceptional song here, in a good way (but not amazing) is their cover of Aerosmith's "Nobody's Fault". It offers a reprieve from the band's samey own songs and works well with Chuck's comparatively harsher vocals. As at least one other reviewer will tell you, the part in the chorus where the delivery speeds up out of nowhere makes for quite good listening. Unfortunately that was creativity on Aerosmith's part rather than Testament's, but in my view their version here improves on one or two vocal melodies and is certainly better than the original. Speaking of vocals, 1988 Chuck Billy is your average thrash crooner à la 80s Hetfield, with a few Belladonna-ish shrieks but don't expect him to stay in key for long at higher registers. Skolnick is the star here with his lead work, Peterson and Clemente are competent but not groundbreaking and the bassist is... well... the bassist. That's the end of that.
The songs on The New Order range from slightly below- to slightly above-average, and for structural reasons this piece isn't worth much more than NZ$10 (about US$7 or ?5, and I'm the kind of guy who never even considers buying used). Save your hard money for the essential early works of Metallica, Anthrax and such, or if you already have those, support someone from the underground. They've gotta be better written than this.
Favourite tracks: "The New Order", "Trial by Fire", "Nobody's Fault"
Rating:
8.9
8.9
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Rating: 8.9 |
Released by the end of the '80s in 1988, when other thrash metal bands' directions began to divert from basic Bay Area Thrashing to different, broader styles (Metallica's change to a more mainstream and arguably progressive style by ...And Justice for All and Slayer's South of Heaven which featured slower music), Testament come with their second studio album still formed of mostly pure thrash metal, with a few groovy tunes here and there. The album is, like any other thrash metal album, full of riffs, catchy songs, speed and interesting lyrical topics. Read more ›› |
Comments
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Comments: 40
Visited by: 188 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018 From: Italy  |
Not completely agree... Songwriting 9 IMO and total rating higher...
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand  |
Written by Katatronik on 10.07.2007 at 15:13 I reckon the songwriting's far from brilliant because nothing here can really be called "a classic" and the quasi-atmospheric parts are just wastes of space, but thanks for my first ever comment! 
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Posts: 40071 From: The Netherlands  |
I fully and totally agree with this review. The Legacy is still THE CLASSIC Testament album IMO. For me the only songs that come anywhere close to the material on The Legacy are Trial by Fire, Into the Pit, and The New Order. But even those three can't compare to the songs on their debut.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| king of fools Account deleted |
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| __Az__ Posts: 859 From: UK  |
Id have thought that this album would have deserved higher than 7, Id rate it as one of the predominant thrash albums of the 80's... And certainly an amazing album in Testament's repitoire.
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| graywolf87 Account deleted |
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Written by Guest on 27.08.2007 at 18:20 Mate, I did listen to it, a dozen times. Look at Eerie Inhabitants, and look at Ride the Lightning the album. "Cry out!" in the chorus is taken straight from Trapped under Ice. It copies the idea of kicking off the album with a midpaced guitar melody before bringing in the thrash, then does it to death for half of the other songs. They even put the title track at the second position and begin it in a very similar way to Ride, and there's a bunch more direct implications in the music that I can't remember now. That's my whole point - what they did had been done years earlier, but they didn't bring up the quality to an outstanding level. It's good, but nowhere near the best. Unlike Morbid Saint's Spectrum of Death...
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Posts: 13427 From: The Netherlands  |
Might have strong Metallica influences. But nevertheless, I love this album, a great release in my opinion.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Written by Guest on 19.03.2008 at 17:26Thanks for the comment. Entire solos, huh? I'd like to know which ones?
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Written by Guest on 20.03.2008 at 13:13Could you be a bit more specific about DH? I just listened to all the solos from Lightning and can't place any whole items into particular Metallica songs. Regarding this one and the Led Zep comment, people need to realize that before atonal soloing with the whammy bar became commonplace, it was completely natural for guitarists to use the same licks - the arrangement of these licks is what makes the solos different. I don't consider there to be any solos in For Whom... the part near the start is only a lead melody line, just like it is in the Sabbath song, and this is not out of the ordinary because the part is very simple. Tons of songs share lead melodies, similar to the way most melodic metal and other melodic music styles use the same chord progressions over and over - mid-late Maiden and gothic Paradise Lost (hell, just about any "gothic metal"), anybody? As for stealing from Mustaine, I don't see why people can't accept that he WAS a MEMBER OF THE BAND. Do you really expect a band to come up with all new shit for an album recorded so soon after losing a member?
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Written by Guest on 21.03.2008 at 05:23I guess my main problem is that Testament did this only about 5 years after the scene had been started (speaking in terms of full-length releases) - and while already experienced within this scene with one full-length - they weren't bringing anything new, or even making a revival movement such as the new thrash that came a whole decade later, they were just doing the same old thing while it was popular. Azagthoth may or may not have copied Van Halen's solo style - I don't care in that case because all the other elements of his music were completely different and innovative. That plus the lack of real classic songs (plus the IMO bad structure etc blah blah) are what make this something of a throwaway album. There are so many better, fresher releases to choose from.
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| marillionfan Account deleted |
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Written by Guest on 23.03.2008 at 21:23I know what "dirge" means, it just seems completely out of place on this album. And can we stop arguing about Yngwie - all I said was that there are some extended and forgettable lead-concentrated parts, nothing to compare the two guitarists specifically. Please get back on track about ripping off thrash bands and other similarly relevant lines of discussion  BTW - I don't see a problem with not being able to enjoy Dream Theater 
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Paradox0 Unasuming Madnes Posts: 592 From: USA |
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Written by Paradox0 on 03.07.2008 at 22:32Fair enough, although all three of these albums are in the same tuning - EADGBE
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Candlemass Defaeco Posts: 828 From: Israel  |
Phff..7.0 Better then The Legacy and Alex work is very memorable on this one too, production is great. try a 9.5
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 From: Sweden  |
I haven't really investigated it, but well, maybe this album/band is a Metallica ripoff. I don't care. This album is better than anything Metallica ever released, and better tha most thrash albums. I'd say Testament is the second best thrash band, after Megadeth.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2570 From: Czech Republic  |
Man, I don't want to be rude and call this review bullcrap. I am just gonna say that all the Ride The Lightning ripoff talk is pure crap. The choruses on "Eerie Inhabitants" and "Trapped Under Ice" are totally different. The riffs are not even close, the speed, the feeling - nothing is alike. As far as "Musical Death," gosh, it doesn't resemble anything has ever done... what it does distantly resembles is Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" (the intro riff). It actually reminds me of an old Russian song, which I am never gonna recall. Anyway, Testament have got their own style, and they always had it. I am not gonna deny the Metallica and Slayer influence (I heard it on "The Legacy), but ripping off... no man, wrong here... 
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 From: New Zealand |
Alright, I have finally started liking this album a bit more in the last month or two. One of these days I might give it 8/10. Still, it's nowhere near the best that 80s thrash has to offer. Cry out! ...I'm trapped under ice
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays
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| Timelord Posts: 276 From: USA  |
I have seen both Testament and LLica(no metal left) multiple times. I have never found comparison between the two. First time I saw LLica was in 86 opening for Ozzy and Testament 87 opening for Anthrax. I was never impressed with LLica but Testament blew me and Anthrax away that night. The New Order was a "Classic" release from Testament. You can't tell me that Disciples of the Watch,Into the Pit,Trial by Fire and The Preacher were not classic Testament songs. Then what songs are? Kirk Hammet can't hold a candle next to Alex Skolnick. Sorry Kirk fans but he is not that good. IMO Hetfield is the better guitar player in LLica. Some of the solos in Testaments songs are incredible. I find most of LLica's to be ordinary at best. Chuck Billy sounding like Hetfield? Wasn't Hetfield sounding a bit like Cronos from Venom? That was pretty much the vocal style of thrash metal at the time. Hetfields voice nowdays sounds like shit while Chuck's is as good as ever. Even more aggressive than earlier releases. I had bought the Trial by Fire EP before The New Order was released so I knew what to expect. I wasn't disappointed at all. Do I think it was better than The Legacy? No. It is still a classic record with classic songs from the golden era of thrash.
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| Hugoj33 Posts: 72 From: Argentina  |
"...and the bassist is... well... the bassist."?? Greg Christian is a genius
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| deadhead Posts: 5 From: UK |
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| DrM DreaMutilated Posts: 131 From: Israel  |
The music is excellent, but the production simply sucks. I can hear the brilliance, no doubt, and you call me an ignorant fool but that's why I like The Ritual more. I can actually hear the music. I'm spoiled 
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 From: UK  |
Definitely do not agree with the review in any way. The production is crappy though, and serves to hinder, rather than help the songs. But the songs mostly are great, and I think 'The New Order' is a great album. xD
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| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1537 From: Hungary  |
Written by Candlemass on 11.07.2008 at 20:27 +1 for sure Legacy is immature comparing to this, except for a few moments (eg. Over The Wall...) And I'd never consider an Anthrax album as classic when it only has 3-4 good songs.
---- 
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| Candlemass Defaeco Posts: 828 From: Israel |
Written by qlacs on 25.07.2010 at 18:50 Emmm...for such a small difference it's not worth the conversation For me it's a classic. Better then the legacy, I love this album.
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