Artist: Tesament
Label: Megaforce Records
Release Date: 1987
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Title: The Legacy Artist: Tesament Label: Megaforce Records Release Date: 1987
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon (8/8/01):
Within a few days, metal fiends will be descending upon San Francisco to celebrate a phenomenon that seems to have been forgotten over the last ten years. Bands like SOD, Anthrax, Heathen, Forbidden, and Flotsam and Jetsam are poised to spark a mini-revival, of sorts, of the lost art of thrash metal for one day only: The Thrash of the Titans. Now, the purpose here is not to just have a good time, but to support the good health of Mr. Chuck Billy, a man who has fronted one of thrash's leading embassadors of mayhem, Testament, for the last fifteen years. I went through a period of facination with speed/thrash metal in the late Eighties/early Nineties, cutting my teeth on Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill, and maybe a few others. My exposure to this genre was limited compared to many others but, for some reason, when I think of this time of music, The Legacy comes to mind as a prime example of Bay Area bashing. There are plenty of other records you could point out as being important in one way or another, but this one represents an unadulerated, speedy kick to the head that hearkens back to a time when bands played extreme music without supplemental keyboard or choral fixtures. Hey, I like those fixtures, but you gotta respect a band that did it all with cruchy guitars and a minimal amount of clean intros.In fact, with the exception of "Burnt Offerings" and "Apocalyptic City," there aren't any really "pretty" parts to be found. Well, there are other nice parts, but these revolve around the distorted meanderings of Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson, like those very Maidenesque harmonies found in "First Strike Is Deadly" (2:38). This points to the real achievement of the record: The Legacy combines the full-on speed and chaotic riffing of thrash with a very active sense of melody and technical arrangement. Listen to the section just before the solo in "Apocalyptic City" (2:31) and the intro of "The Haunting" to see what I mean. Combine this with guitar solos that make you want to weep and you know you're not dealing with lazy players. The opening phrases of "Over The Wall" even lead me to believe this record is a prelude to the Gothenburg explosion that has overtaken metal in the last decade. Even with all the six-string wizardry going on, you can't deny the simple joy found in banging your head silly to "COTLOD," which I think is the best two-and-a-half minutes of solid violence I've ever heard.
Just like Metallica took a musical leap forward with their sophomore effort Ride The Lightning, Testament bettered themselves with the catchier and darker The New Order, but The Legacy remains as a tribute to a band who captured the emotional punch of speed metal and played it with a sense of intelligence and class.
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