JamesT

Whitechapel - "This is Exile" Looking forward to a new release from these guys next year. Phil Bozeman is on record saying he wants to get back to their heavier sound of the first 3 albums. Fingers crossed!

Hell's Fire - "Rest in Riffs" A modern southern metal gem.

HammerFall - "Built to Last" HammerFall - "Dominion" HammerFall - "Hammer of Dawn" Primal Fear - "Seven Seals"

HammerFall - "Renegade" HammerFall - "Crimson Thunder" HammerFall - "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" HammerFall - "Threshold" HammerFall - "No Sacrifice, No Victory" HammerFall - "Infected" HammerFall - "(R)Evolution" Yep, just can't get enough of this band. Fantastic listening experience every single time.

Girish and the Chronicles - "Back on Earth" I cannot promote this band enthusiastically enough! Great young band with a vocalist who has a voice the likes of which I haven't heard in quite some time. Gonna be playing their 3 albums in order several times through this weekend. Hope they stick around for a long time.

Good evening, Mr. GG! Wow, it looks like we have very different takes on the Testament catalog, but that's perfectly okay! I love the early albums for sure. Those first two are undeniable classics. It's just a bit more difficult for me to get as much into them without the punch of modern production. "Titans of Creation" is just phenomenal to my ears. There's not a single song that's not enjoyable from beginning to end. One thing I admire you for is that you actually listen to the quality of the music, rather than simply clinging to early material due to nostalgia. That's a great thing that brings sentimentality to music, but it shouldn't have any bearing on how we listen to the quality of the songs. To my ears, the modern Testament output stands up every bit to the classic era. Having listened through the entire discography over the last two days, I'd rank them like this: 12) Demonic 11) Low 10) Souls of Black 9) The Ritual 8. Practice What You Preach 7) The Legacy 6) The New Order 5) Brotherhood of the Snake 4) The Formation of Damnation 3) Dark Roots of Earth 2) Titans of Creation 1) The Gathering When it comes to classic thrash bands, I'd rank Testament 3rd, behind only #2 Death Angel, and of course, at #1 is the mighty Overkill. Always great to talk metal with you, my friend!

Great choice! I quite enjoy Mournful Congregation. Haven't listened to them in awhile, so I'll probably jump back in soon. Testament really doesn't have any bad albums. Souls of Black is fantastic - just a bit thin on the production. But the songwriting is great! I even enjoy "Low" and "Demonic" quite a bit. While other metal bands - aside from PanterA and Overkill - were experimenting with more mainstream sounds, Testament went in an even more extreme direction, delving into a bit of death metal here and there. I'll always admire them for that. Chuck Billy is just phenomenal as a vocalist, too.

Metallica - "72 Seasons" Savage - "Loose 'n' Lethal" Testament - "The Formation of Damnation" Testament - "Dark Roots of Earth" Testament - "Brotherhood of the Snake" Testament - "Titans of Creation" I love the more modern Testament output far more than their earlier stuff, most likely because the production quality was so thin at that time, it doesn't have any teeth to it. Of these 4 modern Testament albums, I'm having a tough time deciding which one is best - probably going to go with the latest one as of now, "Titans of Creation". It's already deserving of being called a modern classic, even though it's only 3 years old at this point. Absolutely love every song.

I've had that album in my library for several months now, and it's a killer! Nervosa - "Victim of Yourself" Metallica - "72 Seasons" DragonForce - "Ultra Beatdown" Running Wild - "Blood on Blood" Burning Witches - "Hexenhammer" Girish and the Chronicles - "Hail to the Heroes" Girish and the Chronicles - "Rock the Highway" Grim Reaper - "Walking in the Shadows" RIP Steve Grimmett And I cannot recommend Girish and the Chronicles highly enough. Great young band from India, whose debut was released in 2020, and here in 2023, they now have 3 albums out. A great 1-2 punch of their 2nd and 3rd albums having been released in consecutive years now. Their latest album, "Back on Earth", is incredible as well. Great mix of rock 'n' roll, hard rock, and hair metal.

Overkill - "Scorched" Overkill - "Taking Over" Metallica - "72 Seasons" Metallica - "Ride the Lightning" Judas Priest - "Sad Wings of Destiny" Dee Snider - "For the Love of Metal" Enforced - "Kill Grid" Enforced - "War Remains" Nervosa - "Victim of Yourself" Yep, it's been a great day!

Enforced - "War Remains" High Command - "Beyond the Wall of Desolation"

Testament - "The Gathering" My favorite Testament album never disappoints!

It's awesome to see that you're into thrash! It's my second favorite style of metal, just behind groove, which often gets lumped in with thrash - often, there's a nice blend of those two styles. For the more modern thrash bands, my favorite is from Spain - a band called Angelus Apatrida. They have 5 albums out as of now, and they're all incredible. After that, Evile, Havok, Warbringer, freaKings, Battalion, Traitor, Hatchet, Harlott, Bonded by Blood, Dust Bolt, Game Over, Terrifier, Total Annihilation, Anialator, Alkoholizer, Chemicide, and Nervosa (all-female band) are just a few off the top of my head. Plenty of great stuff to check out!

Cattle Decapitation - "Terrasite" Yet another great release day yesterday! Upon first listen, this new release is a continuation of the sound they've been developing over the last few albums, particularly 2019's "Death Atlas". Travis Ryan is such a dynamic extreme vocalist - somehow, his clean vocals manage to be even more unsettling and disturbing than his gutturals.

Metallica - "72 Seasons"