Testament
Live At Eindhoven '87
8.1
Despite the large, vocal contingent persistently appealing for the bounds of the hallowed Big Four to be expanded to include Testament, the rest of us realize that Testament is a band that peaked out of the gate. They proved the first strike IS deadly with The Legacy, an absolutely monstrous debut and bona fide thrash classic, and The New Order an excellent follow up. But after that the band has released a string of good-to-damn-good albums, nearly all of which are easily worth your cash, but none of them match the high water mark achieved during Testament’s early days. So even though Live at Eindhoven ‘87 catches the band when they had but a single album to their credit, you can’t muster anything resembling a complaint about the tracks offered up here. The Legacy is represented nearly entirely, with only "Raging Waters" and (oddly enough) "Alone in the Dark" taking a spot on the bench. In their places are "Disciples of the Watch" and early demo/b-side "Reign of Terror". By the way, the old timers out there might have had about half of this show on a long out of print EP of the same name from back in 1987.
I don’t need to tell you that there are some real gems here, folks. Curtain raiser "Disciples of the Watch", "Apocalyptic City", "Over the Wall" and "First Strike is Deadly" in particular get the blood pumping double quick. The band’s performance is solid as hell, as they deal out water-tight run throughs of road tested but studio fresh instant classics. Chuck Billy in particular comes off well, his signature booming gruffness comes across as strong and natural. There are lots of moments, however, when a line of vocals goes missing, no doubt victim to Billy’s enthusiastic headbanging. The Eindhoven crowd makes their presence known with their rowdy and appreciative responses, and despite that Billy continually goads them to drink more beer.
The recording is likely going to be a sticking point for some. It is a bit muddy and there are moments when some of the lead guitar work is lost in the mix. On the other hand, it’s an authentically live effort, and it’s nice to hear a live album that doesn’t sound overdubbed to hell. And timeliness is a bit of a factor–this flies in the face of the current crop of highly produced efforts from the new crowd of "vintage" thrash bands. That’s either a strength or a liability, depending on where you stand. But this is a night of brash, aggressive, raw thrash from the original mold, and Live at Eindhoven ‘87 is not only a fun celebration of the glory days, but a strong documentation of a band at its most deadly.
The recording is likely going to be a sticking point for some. It is a bit muddy and there are moments when some of the lead guitar work is lost in the mix. On the other hand, it’s an authentically live effort, and it’s nice to hear a live album that doesn’t sound overdubbed to hell. And timeliness is a bit of a factor–this flies in the face of the current crop of highly produced efforts from the new crowd of "vintage" thrash bands. That’s either a strength or a liability, depending on where you stand. But this is a night of brash, aggressive, raw thrash from the original mold, and Live at Eindhoven ‘87 is not only a fun celebration of the glory days, but a strong documentation of a band at its most deadly.
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