Testament "The Legacy" CD

Co-released Megaforce Records & Atlantic Records.

Rounding out the last of my reviews of Testament's peak period of releases from 1987-1990 is none other than their fantastic debut album simply titled The Legacy, a nod to their former band name. Legacy settled on the name Testament suggested by Billy Milano due to Legacy already being trademarked by another band that wasn't even a metal band or was even active at the time. The name change was great in the long run as Testament sounded much more powerful and the Testament logo looks way better than the Legacy logo. For me The Legacy is the best debut album of all time beating out other golden thrash debuts like Bonded By Blood and Kill em' All by miles. Released in April of 1987 The Legacy pushed boundaries with Skolnick's lethal melodic guitar playing that blended so blissfully with Peterson's more dark and sinister riffing. The duo would go on to put out some outstanding riffs and solos together for the next few years the best in the entire genre culminating in 1990 with Souls of Black.
This is by far Testament's fastest album from their golden years and the most thrashiest. A lot of these tracks were already written by the time Chuck Billy entered the band as vocalist replacing Steve "Zetro" Souza as he would go on to replace Paul Baloff in Exodus. I think this paid off tremendously for Testament as Chuck Billy is a much more versatile singer and he would become the singer from here on out on all future Testament releases. The Legacy would be the start of Testament's reign as the most dominate metal band around especially with the classic lineup of Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Eric peterson, Greg Christian, and Louie Clemente. These 5 would conjure up some of the most memorable, melodic, and catchy thrash metal albums of all time. This lineup is still my personal favorite in the entire bands history, yes despite how many better drummers technicality wise they had no one fit in this band better than Louie Clemente. I don't give a damn the dude was the perfect counterbalance to keep this band from becoming too off the tracks fast. Louie's drumming while may not be the most technical, his suit the song best type of playing made all the riffs stand out and provided a perfect foundation for Skolnick's solos to flourish at their maximum potential. The band has had phenomenal drummers since Clemente and still haven't even come close to topping the albums he was on.
The production/mix is badass here it's 1987 reverb is on everything guitars are saturated in a slight amount of delay and this record sets the tone for the future installments in Testament's career. Chucks vocals sit pretty damn well in the mix here he's not as up front as the next few albums but he's definitely heard very well here. The guitars are nice and crunchy and this is classic Marshall JCM 800 tone at his best scooped mids and all. Skolnick's lead sound here is not as doused in effects as future releases but man for 18 years old the dude was shredding harder than anybody in the bay area at this time. This is probably the least audible Greg is on any classic Testament record. You can still hear him but its pretty faint on this record. Louie is blistering here this is his most intense performance throughout his 5 album stint with Testament and while it's damn impressive I much prefer his more toned down mid tempo beats combined with this fast pace style. Nonetheless Clemente's drum sound here is top notch. The songs on this record are strong as hell for a bands debut release and are well crafted and structured. "Over the Wall" starts the album and man this is like the cornerstone of what a Testament song is classic, melodic, technical, memorable, and catchy. Next up is "The Haunting" which features some trademark guitar harmonies by Peterson and Skolnick and has a more melodic vocal approach compared to the rest of the tracks. "Burnt Offerings" is just a ripper of song starting with Skolnick using the volume knob to fade in an arpeggio into a tasteful mini solo that bridges into the barrage of earth shattering riffs. The Chorus is ridiculously catchy in this one as well. "Raging Waters" keeps the momentum moving with another catchy chorus yet still remaining pretty damn heavy and fast. "Curse of the Legions of Death" is the fastest song on the entire record and its only 2 minutes. The song was written by former guitarist and Peterson's cousin Derrick Ramirez and while its still pretty rad it's my least favorite tune on the record. "First Strike is Deadly" is a nasty tune that has some intense ass drumming on it from Clemente and has a lot of super heavy riffs and some really fast picking. "Do or Die" is one song Chuck Billy had writing credits on and like the rest is pretty blistering in pace and gives a glimpse how Chuck would attack songs vocally on future releases. "Alone In the Dark" is more mid tempo song that has a insanely crushing pre chorus and a more cleanly sung chorus. "Apocalyptic City" closes this beast being the longest track and features like the rest of the songs an incredible solo. There is a literally a section which Skolnick does 12 sweeps back to back and it isn't just noodling they are structured intelligently with one another. Just goes to show how developed he was as a player here and how insane he will get by 1990.
This album has the most destructive and chaotic atmosphere of all the classic Testament records. this is the band at their most ruthless form before refining this sound to a more technical approach on the upcoming releases. This is the first record of their peak period peaking right out of the gate on the debut and and not letting up for the next few records before slowing down a with 1992's The Ritual another masterpiece but of a different direction. Chuck Billy really proved himself here by adapting to a more thrash vocal style after his days in his glammy sounding band Guilt. He really put on a stellar vocal performance for being the new guy walking in to a band already signed. Peterson is at the start of his prime here as the main songwriter of the band crafting the best thrash possible his songwriting skills are among the best in the history of metal and combined with his right hand man on lead guitar Alex Skolnick they are a force to be reckoned with. Skolnick is just mind blowing the guy shreds harder than bands with 2 lead players and put everyone to shame with The Legacy. Skolnick is my all time favorite guitarist and the biggest influence on the way I play guitar and its albums like this that I cut my teeth on as a lead player. Greg and Louie are a solid duo that display here with The legacy that they can keep up with the best of them when it comes to frenzied faster thrash metal a lot of folks tend to bash Christian and Clemente but they are the perfect fit for Testaments unique sound and overall vibe both keep things in time as the backbone of the band and can play at any tempo the band decides to delve into.
Overall this album is a classic and a must have if your into old school metal. Majority of fans claim this to be their finest hour and while I sort of agree to an extent I love all their classic albums and think their finest hour spanned over the course of the first 4 records. Even The Ritual and Low were brilliant but my favorite Testament album is by far 1990's Souls of Black the solos on that release are just timeless. Some fans like me even consider The Legacy to be the greatest thrash debut album of all time beating out classics like Kill Em' All and Bonded By Blood by miles. This record is the first chapter of the best metal band in the world, yeah I know that's a bold statement to many but Testament are and will forever be my all time favorite band and all their classic material is pure gold. I'd highly recommend this record to literally anyone as it is a landmark release in the thrash metal genre and has stood the test of time with many tracks still being mainstays in their live set to this day. Testament set the bar extremely high right off the bat and somehow despite the odds continue to raise that bar the next 3 albums.

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