A new Testament album is always cause for celebration, especially when it arrives after a five-year wait. Following 2020’s well-received Titans Of Creation, Para Bellum marks the recording debut of Chris Dovas, longstanding drummer Gene Hoglan having departed in 2022, and it finds Testament – galvanised by the line-up shift – on fiery form. A diverse album, Para Bellum finds the band gleefully dabbling in everything from thrash to death metal, even throwing a touch of prog in along the way and, in this, they’re greatly aided by the presence of studio legend Jens Bogren (Paradise Lost, Amorphis, Sepultura, Kreator), whose work helps to elevate the album to the status of a late-era classic.
The album starts on an explosive note, with the death/thrash hybrid of For The Love Of Pain. It devastates from the moment Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson begin trading riffs like it’s 1987, only for the needle to shoot further into the red with the entrance of Chuck Billy. Possessed of an unholy roar, he’s in spectacularly good voice, bringing a touch of death metal brutality to the party.
After so spectacular an entrance, Testament had better have something special in the bag. Fortunately, they do, in the form of recent single Infanticide A.I., which opens on a regal note, two coiled leads bursing from the speakers, only for Chris Dovas to unload with a percussive blast that leaves the listener fearing for their spleen. Few bands have such ferocious energy, and even fewer who are racing towards their fourth decade, yet Testament make it look easy, deftly weaving might and melody into a coherent thrash metal anthem for our troubled times. Chris then remains out front for the pounding intro to Shadow People, a blistering mid-tempo thrash groove that harks back to the band’s formative years.
As potent as the opening gambit may be, Para Bellum has more to it than naked aggression and the band take a very different tack on lengthy power ballad Meant To Be. An emotionally charged track with a sweeping, cinematic aspect, it sees the band adding picked guitars and strings to the mix, while Chuck’s powerful yet vulnerable performance sits at its heart. It’s a truly wonderful piece of music, heartfelt and dynamic, and it highlights the breadth of Testament’s ambitions. In contrast, the monstrous High Noon offers no quarter and it’s all the more devastating for its untrammelled brutality. It wraps up a stunning first half with a series of explosive death metal riffs delivered with enough force to rattle the teeth.
Opening the album’s second side, the dramatic thrash riff of Witch Hunt could easily be drawn from Practice What You Preach, such is the power of the band’s assault. With Chuck’s rhythmic bark looming over it all, it’s a harrowing blast of death-infused thrash and it finds the band at their most potent. Rather more surprising is the mid-tempo Nature of The Beast which, with its stoner groove, sounds like Testament jamming with Orange Goblin and Motorhead. It’s a cool track, adding a touch of hard rock class, and it’s followed by the darker, harder Room 117 which maintains a strong melody amidst the increasingly frantic riffs.
With the album approaching its end, Testament show that they’re far from tiring, the epic introduction to Havana Syndrome giving way to a gleaming thrash anthem that nods to the likes of Megadeth’s Holy Wars with its unstoppable momentum and deftly incorporated sense of melody. The album wraps up with the title track, the extended intro paving the way for one final monumental display from a band who are truly on the form of their lives.
With pristine production, superlative performances from all concerned, and a tightly plotted, ten-track sequence that runs the gamut of Testament’s myriad influences, Para Bellum is a masterclass in extreme metal. While the band’s back catalogue speaks for itself, there is an argument to be made that this latest effort stands as one of Testament’s very best efforts and it is essential listening for anyone who worships at the altar of heavy fucking metal. Intelligent, articulate, and utterly immense, with Para Bellum, Testament have calmly unleashed one of the very best metal albums of 2025. 9/5/10
