Thrashcast Episode 71: Testament's "Para Bellum" album from 2025
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Thrashcast is the place to find riveting discussions on classic thrash albums, news and reviews. Your hosts are three thrash loving maniacs who grew up during the golden age of the genre. Kenneth, Billy and Jim will get together weekly to bring you a deep dive on some of your favourite thrash records.
Show Notes:
Episode Seventy-One: Another stellar episode is in the books and what better way to mark Billy's full-time return with a review of the latest studio recording by Testament. Hot off the heels of the album's release, Para Bellum the 14th studio album celebrates the diversity of the music with moments of black, death and heaping amounts of thrash. Joining the band is new drummer Chris Dovas who brings renewed energy to the proceedings.
The album's title Para Bellum refers to the Latin phrase "prepare for war" giving the bulk of songs credence to the balls-out intensity found in every song. You will find plenty of diverse moments ranging from barn burners like "Infanticide AI" and "Shadow People", but also giving us a strong ballad like "Meant to Be" to really round out the performance. The album also pays homage to past efforts like Low, The Ritual, Demonic and the Gathering, proving that Testament can still pull from their history and greatly improve the songs written here in a modern context.
Fun Facts: The album artwork was once again done by the great Eliran Kantor who has worked on their previous efforts Dark Roots of the Earth 2012, Brotherhood Of The Snake 2016, and Titans of Creation 2020. This will be his 4th album featuring his work tying him William Benson for consecutive albums on artwork.
Kenneth Gallant, HMS
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