Testament
Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament
Mayhem
Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament is a seventy six minute CD of hot, explosive thrash metal, sampling the entire discography of Testament: from The Legacy in ‘87 to last year’s release, Demonic. Signs of Chaos does a good representation of Testament – expressing the band’s take on music in the last decade, its strongest fortes: power, speed and originality, and its go-against-the-grain musicality and attitude.
Signs of Chaos contains essential Testament, spanning their numerous line-up changes and their changes in styles through them. This includes tracks from their earlier works, like the barn burner “Over the Wall,” progressive with complex rhythms and fiery “The New Order,” “Trial by Fire” and more. Highlighting their experimentation with the melodic side in the album Practice What You Preach, SoC carries the title track, “Perilous Nation,” and the band’s sarcastic contribution to the eighties metal scene, “The Ballad.” Testament’s return to the darker, aggressive metal in the early nineties is exhibited in “Dog Faced Gods” and “Low,” and “Demonic Refusal,” from their loudest album, Demonic.
This album also contains two previously unreleased tracks: a flaming rendition of Scorpions’ “Sails of Charon,” and a cover of Aerosmith’s “Draw the Line.” The CD version has two bonus tracks. Mayhem Records, 285 W. Broadway, Suite 300, New York, NY 10013
