Now here is an aptly named title for the veteran thrash band, as this is truly the definitive "gathering" of musicians for Testament's lineup. Joining the ranks of vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson is guitarist aficionado James Murphy (Death, Cancer, Obituary), bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Death and Sadus), and the human drumming machine himself, Dave Lombardo (Slayer and Fantomas). Testament, for the first time in many a full moon, is a complete, well-oiled musical machine…

Forget Metallica, forget Megadeth, Anthrax, and even Slayer! The most formidable on-stage thrash metal powerhouse of 2011 was arguably the (mostly) reconstituted classic lineup of Testament: singer Chuck Billy, guitarists Alex Skolnick, and Eric Peterson, plus returning bass badass Greg Christian and occasional drummer Gene Hoglan, who probably tops most predecessors on the stool, most would agree…

Throughout thrash metal’s almost 40 years of history beginning in the early 1980s, many bands have passed through the genre’s doors enjoying varying amounts of success. Some broke through the glass ceiling and popularized the genre on an undeniable scale: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, as well as later bands Pantera and Machine Head borrowing influence from thrash before weaving it into their own respective musical templates. Flotsam & Jetsam have been there since the very beginning, and have more of a history in thrash than most of their contemporaries, leading them to release a new album ‘The End of Chaos’ at the beginning of 2019…

The proper follow-up to Among the Living was somewhat disappointing in its inconsistency. While there are some good moments – "Be All, End All" is one of the band's most melodic moments, and several other tracks catch fire – the best thing here is a cover of Trust's "Antisocial," and it doesn't bode well when covers outshine original material…

Power metal, sci-fi themes, sexy-ass riffs, fantastic laser beams and intergalactic heroes charging at the sight of injustice and evil; what more could a nerdy metalhead want? Iron Savior has been at the space sentinel business for more than 20 years now, and like that go-to old shoe or jeans, always delivers the goods quality-wise. ‘Kill Or Get Killed’, yet another studio album by Piet Sielck (vocals, guitars) and his fellow space marines Jan-Sören Eckert (bass), Joachim “Piesel” Küstner (guitars) and newcomer Patrick Klose (drums), comes as a statement that it’s really, really hard to destroy the most resilient, enduring and stubborn metal of them all: the Teutonic…

Germany has been a hotbed for thrash metal for countless years now as the likes of DESTRUCTION, KREATOR and SODOM have dominated the genre. Hoping to assert themselves into the fold and continue their rise to prominence is Bavarian outfit DUST BOLT. The follow up to 2016’s Mass Confusion entitled Trapped In Chaos is out now via Napalm Records…

The Wings of War is the 19th studio album by American thrash metal band Overkill, released on February 22, 2019. It is the band's first album to feature drummer Jason Bittner, making it the band's first one without Ron Lipnicki since ReliXIV (2005), as he left Overkill shortly after the release of its predecessor The Grinding Wheel (2017)…

Prog Thrashers SACROSANCT have gone through a period of silence for quite some time. Twenty-Five years of silence to be exact! That silence was shattered with thunderous fanfare this year with the band's latest album "Necropolis." Formed by Randy Meinhard, former guitarist of PESTILENCE, the band gained some fairly decent traction in their home country, The Netherlands back in the early 90's. Thanks to a poorly run label, they didn't get much attention outside their home (their sophomore album art specially and graciously commissioned by legendary illustrator H.R. Giger was tragically ruined by the label's shoddy production team!). Today SACROSANCT is making up for Twenty-Five years of lost time with their fourth release…