Testament - Para Bellum [2 LP, Copper Colored Vinyl]

Bay Area thrash legends Testament return with Para Bellum, their fourteenth studio album and first in five years following 2020's Titans of Creation. The album's title comes from the Latin phrase "Si vis pacem, para bellum," meaning "If you want peace, prepare for war." The album is a stylistic mixture of thrash metal, death metal and black metal, while "Meant to Be" incorporates elements of orchestral and progressive music. Founding guitarist Eric Peterson described the direction as a combination of thrash, NWOBHM, "thrash black [and] heavy hard rock blues." The album marks the band's first studio release with drummer Chris Dovas, who replaced Dave Lombardo in 2023. This copper vinyl edition includes a high quality, oversized 16-page booklet with artwork by Eliran Kantor.

Singles "Infanticide A.I." and "High Noon" showcase the album's unrelenting intensity, with Dovas's blinding speed driving tracks that push Testament beyond their expected norms. "For the Love of Pain" opens with blackened tremolo riffing before diving into crushing thrash, while "Shadow People" balances groove and aggression. "Meant to Be" marks the band's first ballad in years, featuring world-renowned cellist Dave Eggar performing orchestrated strings. Additional highlights include "Witch Hunt," which incorporates both blackened and death metal elements, and tracks like "Nature of the Beast," "Room 117," and "Havana Syndrome" that reveal Testament's ability to shift effortlessly between pummeling thrash and eerie darkness. The title track closes the album with acoustic passages bookending explosive intensity.

Pressed on copper-colored vinyl across two LPs in gatefold packaging, this edition delivers the album's dynamic range with clarity. Recorded with Juan Urteaga and mixed for the first time by Jens Bogren, the production is polished and operating at full throttle. The 16-page booklet features Kantor's striking cover art depicting a serene angel sculpted from missiles with an explosion forming her halo, surrounded by shovel-bearing cultists. Vocalist Chuck Billy stretches across clean chants, guttural roars, and whispers of doom, while Peterson and Alex Skolnick deliver razor-sharp riffs alongside Steve DiGiorgio's walking bass lines. This pressing captures Testament reflecting modern chaos through urgent, unflinchingly human music.

• Format: Copper Colored, 2LP
• Standout tracks: "Infanticide A.I.," "High Noon," "Meant to Be"
• Pressing details: Gatefold jacket with 16-page booklet featuring artwork and lyrics, artwork by Eliran Kantor, mixed by Jens Bogren
• Genre/style: Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Progressive Metal
• UPC: 4065629752279

This copper vinyl edition captures Testament at their most ferocious and experimental, delivering an album that stands as both a battle cry and a reflection on humanity's uneasy relationship with technology.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. For The Love Of Pain
2. Infanticide A.I.
3. Shadow People

Side B:

1. Meant To Be
2. High Noon

Side C:

1. Witch Hunt
2. Nature Of The Beast
3. Room 117

Side D:

1. Havana Syndrome
2. Para Bellum