Testament – Para Bellum

Since their return of sorts in 2008, American thrash metal icons Testament have released a new album roughly every four years. This time around, however, more than five years have passed since their previous album, Titans of Creation, came out.

The general musical direction for Testament was largely established with 2008’s The Formation of Damnation. Since then, the band has focused on clean, balanced-sounding albums that borrow heavily from the trademarks of their ’80s releases – delivered in an updated and contemporary form.

The can be for their fourteenth studio album, Para Bellum but there is so much more to it. While it’s true that the band continues to build on their established sound, this time they dig noticeably deeper into their death metal and black metal influences. These elements were certainly touched on in few previous releases, but in 2025, the band makes them a critical part of the album’s identity.

This shift becomes clear just a couple of tracks in, especially with the opener, “For the Love of Pain,” which essentially serves as a modern death metal tune layered with classic thrash hooks.

The album also marks a lineup change: it’s the first release since The Dark Roots of Earth not to feature Gene Hoglan on drums. Hoglan parted ways with the band in 2022, and Para Bellum introduces Chris Dovas behind the kit. Alongside the core lineup, Steve Di Giorgio continues to deliver his bass magic for the third consecutive album.

Speaking of Dovas – he certainly fills the big shoes left by Hoglan. His performance on Para Bellum is nothing short of outstanding. His technical abilities are impressive, though at times the band leans a bit too heavily on showcasing them. Perhaps that’s expected when replacing a drummer of Hoglan’s caliber. Thankfully, it never becomes as tiresome as it did on, say, Trivium’s What the Dead Men Say.

Once you get past the initial impact of Dovas’ technical skill, it’s everything else about his playing that stands out more. His sense of groove and melodic phrasing are truly impressive and add a great deal of vitality to the material.

Para Bellum is also a very dynamic record. Like most classic thrash bands, Testament has followed the “back to roots” formula that gave them and peers like Metallica, Kreator, Anthrax, and Megadeth a second wind in the late 2000s. But on this new album, the band explores a broader range of their musical identity – including aspects that never defined their sound or brought them commercial success. Throughout the album, Testament shifts fluidly between thrash, death, black, and even classic heavy metal. These genre blends often occur within individual songs, giving the album a strong sense of flow.

For instance, when they lean into black metal on “Witch Hunt,” they insert a melodic section in the middle that helps connect it naturally to the following tracks, which focus more on the band’s melodic side. These, in turn, still feature crushingly heavy elements that link them back to the heavier songs, keeping the album cohesive.

The only track that stands out – and not in a good way – is “Meant to Be,” a ballad in the style of ’80s Metallica. It’s even placed fourth on the album, just like “Fade to Black” or “One.” Unfortunately, it disrupts the otherwise fierce flow of the record. The song itself is fine, but nothing to brag about and it lacks Testament DNA.

Lyrically, the band tackles current issues, and as always, they do so in a mostly decent manner. That said, there are several cringe-worthy moments, like on “Infanticide A.I.” We’ve seen this before when Testament attempts to address serious topics in a dated or clumsy way. One can only imagine how awkward those lyrics might sound in another five years.

While Testament is still rooted in their classic style, Para Bellum shows them broadening their horizons more than they have in a long time. The album touches on nearly every era of their career – even the less commercially successful ones – and in doing so, feels like a kind of retrospective. In that sense, it resembles Ascension, the latest Paradise Lost album. It’s a celebration of band’s legacy, delivered in both fresh and energized package.

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