Review by Adam M on October 21, 2025.

This is a great new entry from the band that makes up for a big of missing time in fine fashion and cements their place as fore bearers of the thrash genre.  The music is a good step up from the last couple of efforts and makes the band exciting once again.  There is a nice combination of aggressipon and melody to craft a well-rounded release that is among the band’s better albums.

The musicianship on the album is solid with an aggressive mindset that recalls The Gathering along with more melody,  There are a great deal of meaty riffs from the guitars that make the album catchy along with pounding drums that make for a complete experience.  The production is solid and makes the worthwhile and the singing is great as well.

The flaw to the album is that it is neither as abrasive as The Gathering or as classically oriented as The Legacy.  Despite this, the album is still their most well-rounded in some time and completely worthwhile to listen to.  It could be more aggressive, but still manage to make quite an impact regardless.  There is enough passion here to make for a worthwhile listen.

All in all, this is a very great Testament album that nicely make for quite the complete listen.  The songs like “Shadow People” are very powerful and quintessential listens.  Fans of the band’s past work will find a great deal to enjoy here as the band is in tip top shape.  Though they have better albums, this was still a nice surprise.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Michael on October 20, 2025.

Para bellum – prepare for war. It's a way too often quoted Latin phrase in these not too easy times with too much uncertainty, polarization and hate everywhere. And like mankind isn't making it too easy for everybody on this planet, Testament also don't make it too easy for the listener. Kicking off with some tunes similar to their all-time classic "The Gathering", the opener "For The Love Of Pain" soon gets a super heavy, almost some sort of a black metal beast with a lot of tremolo picks and harsh vocals by Chuck that again reminds of Testament at the end of the 90s. This is, to be honest, a very challenging start and something that may not please everybody. Maybe the title is chosen because of that fact; somehow it really hurts listening to the track for the first time.

"Infanticide A.I." goes into a totally different direction. First of all the vocals which are a mixture of the typical high screams and deep growls that flashed me for the first time back on "Return To The Apocalyptic City" but also because this song is a classic Testament song that could have been on the early works as well.

But obviously Testament haven't forgotten their more melodic (and some might say more mediocre) phase when there were releases like "The Ritual" or (the name says it all) "Low" nor the also quite irritating "Demonic" album if you check the straight forward, staccato-like death metal track "Witch Hunt". Okay, to be fair, the tracks (especially "Nature Of The Beast") that remind me of these three albums aren't such lame ducks (or fast ducks on "Demonic") like most of them on the original ones but somehow they are not easily accessible either.

So this is the major problem that "Para Bellum" has in my opinion. The songs are all quite fine but what is missing is the common thread. It all sounds like a more or less "best of" Testament with influences from all the eras (except "The Legacy") but it is quite difficult to enjoy this release as a whole.

Of course there are some outstanding tracks like "Nature Of The Beast" that is a typical Testament mid-tempo thrash song with a breath-taking guitar solo by Alex Skolnick and the typical Chuck Billy vocals or the semi-ballad "Meant To Be" (which is probably the best one since "The Legacy" which was to be found on "Souls Of Black". What is really cool on that one are the string instruments that found their way here to create a really melancholic atmosphere. Also the title track is a very interesting thing because of its very technical start and the intense, fast riffing. If all the ten tracks would have preserved the energy and accessibility this would have been a really great thing.

But with the aforementioned mish-mash of different styles and eras the album remains below the expectations and is another quite average step in the history of Testament just like "The Formation Of Damnation" or "Dark Roots Of The Earth".

Rating: 7.5 out of 10