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TESTAMENT
Para Bellum

Nuclear Blast (2025)
Rating: 8/10

If ever there was a band that still sounds as fresh as the day it was born, it’s Testament. Para Bellum is the 14th full-length instalment in the illustrious career of the California band that arguably deserves the same levels of success as the so-called “Big Four” of thrash – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax.

With not a bad album in their discography, Testament marches cocksure into a new era and some five years after the impressive Titans Of Creation. Main man Chuck Billy sounds as lethal as ever, coughing up demonic chops in accordance with Alex Skolnick’s and Eric Peterson’s artery severing axe work.

I expected heavy and that’s exactly what I got, Para Bellum being a dark slab of colossal metal with a few blackened streaks for good measure, particularly on opening attack ‘For The Love Of Pain’. This is a ferocious thrash outburst bristling with the usual macho muscularity and Chuck Billy burps out those commands like a man possessed. Even so, it’s Testament attempting something just a tad different, even with its expected aggression, and the same can also be said for ‘Infanticide A.I.’, as again those blackened flecks are evident.

Para Bellum starts with a brace of bulldozers but as it unfolds it showcases once again the variety within the framework as traditional metal (‘Nature Of The Beast’) fuses with groove metal circa Lamb Of God (‘High Noon’) and dark balladry (‘Meant To Be’). Admittedly, there is a slight unevenness to the album due to the fact Testament shifts between styles, but throughout new drummer Chris Dovas remains formidable.

At times, the production is, like a lot of modern stuff, a bit mechanical and clean, but it does however highlight the talent of bassist Steve DiGiorgio who bolsters the spine of technicality. Those of you craving the classic Testament sound of old may revel in the steely ‘Havana Syndrome’ but also be disappointed in everything else, because Testament is a band that always moves forward. It would’ve been easy for the boys to regurgitate the past, but as showcased on the grandiose title track, this is a band eager to inject all manner of ideas into its bloodstream no matter what the die-hards think.

Testament remains a true heavy metal band, but one which refuses to rest on its laurels. Though slightly muddled at times, Para Bellum stomps mightily and has no hesitancy in nailing your ears to remind you who the real bosses of thrash are.

Neil Arnold

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