Review by Rexorcist for Testament - The Legacy (1987)

1987 was one of the most incredible years in the history of recorded music.  We had experts of practically every genre belting out some of the most amazing compositions you've ever heard, even reaching parts of your soul you didn't know you had.  Most famously, Guns N' Roses had released their diversified and spirited street rock debut Appetite for Destruction, which is ranked among the finest debut albums ever, Def Leppard had improved once again on their essential arena rock album Hysteria, Swans mastered their sense of atmospheres with a wide-ranging album called Children of God, Dead Can Dance let out their best album, Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, Webber's Phantom of the Opera made it to vinyl, Paul Simon kickstarted a worldbeat fad with Graceland, Jackson followed up Thriller with perfection on Bad, and even Karajan released the most haunting version of Requiem I've ever heard.  I haven't even dived into David Sylvain, U2, Helloween or Dinosaur Jr. here.

With so many raw classics from many different worlds, you're probably wondering, where's the thrash metal?  Right here.  Testament's The legacy is yet another powerful debut which spelled nothing but good for the band's future.  While this style had largely been done many times before, taking a couple little points away from the originality, you'd be hard-pressed to find any riffs this insane that came out during 1987.  Some of Skolnik's riffs even rival that of the works of Slayer on their albums Seasons of the Abyss and South of Heaven.  The Haunting is one of the finest examples of just how wild the band can go.  And another excellent plus is Chuck Billy's voice.  He sounds like that darker middle ground between Dave Mustaine and Vince Neil with all of the good attached and none of the bad.  And because his voice is deeper than both, his overall sound is just extraordinary.  Chuck's got the perfect voice to replicate if you wanna start a pizza thrash band like Havok.

While this is an absolutely standard thrash album as far as its sound and diversity goes, the musicianship is peak and the riffs are some of the best in the whole genre.  While I can't really compare this to some of the more creative legends like Rust in Peace and And Justice for All, this comes close and deserves to be checked out by anyone getting into metal, not just thrash.  Even if all you like is cheesy stuff like Acheron, I'd still recommend this.