Demonic
| Demonic | ||||
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| Testament studio album | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Burnt Offerings, Music for Nations | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
40:47 |
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| occupation |
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Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson |
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Studio (s) |
Driftwood Studios, Oakland , California |
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Demonic (ger .: demonic ) is the seventh studio album of American thrash metal band Testament . It was released in June 1997 on the band's own label Burnt Offerings . Stylistically it was described as "modern Thrash Metal" with "Death Metal Vocals", Death Thrash or Death Metal . The album features original guitarist Derrick Ramirez on bass, while Gene Hoglan plays the drums after various line-up changes in previous years .
History of origin
Since Testament’s record contract was terminated by their label Atlantic Records after the release of Low , they released the following live album Live at the Fillmore in 1995 on their own and soon founded with the help of Jon Zazula from Megaforce Records , who took over the promotion and marketing - although there had been differences between him and the band in the past - their own label Burnt Offerings . After drummer Jon Dette Testament after an altercation with vocalist Chuck Billy toward Slayer had left, the band agreed in early 1996 with Chris account of Machine Head on cooperation. With him, for example, a piece called Rapid Fire was recorded for a Judas Priest tribute album. During the summer of 1996, there were reports that the band had split up and Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson would continue under the new name Dog Faced Gods , a song title by Low . But it didn't come to that, the band decided to continue to exist as a will. Chris Kontos was replaced by Gene Hoglan (formerly with Dark Angel and Death ). Derrick Ramirez, Eric Peterson's cousin, took over bass for Greg Christian, who had left the band. Demonic was recorded without James Murphy , as he was traveling solo for his album Convergence - Chuck Billy took over the vocals on one piece. By the time Demonic was released, however, drummer John Dette was back in the band, as Hoglan decided to only work for Strapping Young Lad . For James Murphy, towards the end of the studio recordings , Glen Alvelais, who was released at Low times, was brought back, but can only be heard on Demonic on New Eyes of Old . The self-produced record was mixed by Michael Wagener . In June 1997 the album was released on the band's own label, in the USA via partner label Mayhem and in Europe via Music for Nations . It was the first since The Legacy that didn't make it onto the charts.
The band commented on the emergence of the much heavier vocal style on Demonic :
“There was a lot of aggression and anger in the game when we were rehearsing the new songs and I think they're just awesome. The grunts came inevitably, otherwise you can't sing the songs. "
“I especially think the vocals on Demonic are excellent. They fit a lot better with what Testament is today: a modern, aggressive metal band that still has all that old shit in the back of their heads, but hey, it's 1997 and The Legacy was a long time ago. It would sound pretty stupid if we kept doing the same thing. "
reception
Demonic , like Souls of Black , was recorded differently. One point of criticism was Chuck Billy's style of singing in Rock Hard . Uwe “Buffo” Schnädelbach wrote that Testament had “given up their musical home” despite good songs and the “brilliant drumming” of Gene Hoglan. The rating here was 6.5 out of ten. Alex Henderson from allmusic called the title Demonic "appropriate". The album is not for the "normal" Thrash fan, in terms of "heaviness" he rather compares it to Slayer's Reign in Blood instead of earlier Testament releases . The plate received three stars out of five. Drew Schinzel points out on www.chroniclesofchaos.com that older fans could be disappointed with the changed style and awards seven out of ten points. On the other hand, Christian Rosenau calls it on www.bloodchamber.com “lucky that Testament no longer produce those Jauchzer songs of the eighties, otherwise we would have lost this gem of Death Thrash.” He awards eight out of ten points. This number of points is also awarded on www.metal-observer.com. There Demonic is referred to as a "homogeneous album" that is "very good" over long distances.
Track list
- Demonic Refusal - 5:21
- The Burning Times - 5:15
- Together as One - 4:17
- Jun-Jun - 3:43
- John Doe - 3:11
- Murky Waters - 3:00
- Hatred's Rise - 3:15
- Distorted Lives - 3:36
- New Eyes of Old - 3:00
- Ten Thousand Thrones - 4:37
- Nostrovia - 1:32
The music was written by Eric Peterson, Derrick Ramirez was involved in tracks 1, 2 and 4. All lyrics were written by Chuck Billy. The pieces were arranged by Testament.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b www.rockhard.de: Demonic review by Uwe “Buffo” Schnädelbach
- ↑ a b www.bloodchamber.de: Review Demonic by Christian Rosenau
- ↑ a b www.metal-observer.com: Review Demonic
- ↑ Uwe "Buffo" Schnädelbach: Then we'll do it ourselves! , in: Rock Hard, No. 103, December 1995.
- ↑ a b c Carsten Kleine: The Bay Area will rise again! , in: Rock Hard, No. 122, July 1997.
- ↑ www.rockhard.de: Band biography Testament
- ↑ www.allmusic.com: Band biography testament of Eduardo Rivadavia
- ↑ www.allmusic.com: Demonic review by Alex Henderson
- ↑ www.chroniclesofchaos.com: Demonic review by Drew Schinzel