In the Bay Area of mid-1980s California, a heavy metal scene was forming that was angrier, louder and much, much faster than anything that came before: thrash. Progenitors Metallica are the most well-known of its alumni, but this corner of the West Coast spawned dozens of other brilliant bands seemingly unbounded by tempo, or sometimes even melody.
With their blistering, high-octane riffing and superb technical chops, one of the most formidable and resilient is Testament. Despite having enough lineup changes to rival the Fall, cancer scares and the 1990s grunge takeover that edged out cut-off denim for plaid shirts, Testament are still selling out tours, gnashing at the heels of the commercially dominating Big Four metal bands – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax – and releasing new records with just as much vigour. The most recent, Para Bellum, came out last week.
