Testament: The Legacy [MUSIC ON VINYL]

Why you'll love it

This Music On Vinyl reissue is pressed on 180g audiophile vinyl with an insert. It's the Bay Area band's debut, with Chuck Billy and Alex Skolnick launching one of thrash's great partnerships.

This edition

• 180g audiophile vinyl
• Insert included
• Stereo mix

About the album

Until a month before this album came out, Testament were called Legacy. Then they found out a hotel cover band already had the name, and their friend Billy Milano suggested a new one. They kept the old name as the album title, which is a very thrifty way to handle a rebrand.

The lineup had changed too: singer Steve Souza left for Exodus and recommended Chuck Billy to take his place, though Souza's writing credits remain on most of the songs. The band relocated from San Francisco to Ithaca, New York to record with producer Alex Perialas on Jon and Marsha Zazula's Megaforce label. Eric Peterson and the young Alex Skolnick trade riffs and solos with real flair, Greg Christian and Louie Clemente keep it tight, and "Over The Wall" became a calling card. "The Haunting," "Burnt Offerings" and "First Strike Is Deadly" keep the pace furious, and Skolnick and Peterson's "Apocalyptic City" closes the record in style.

It set Testament up as a leading light of the Bay Area thrash scene, with Billy and Peterson still at the core of the band. A strong start, and proof that the best thing to do with a name you can't use is put it on the cover.

Also at Kops: more Testament on vinyl · browse Metal

Tracklist

Listen

On Music On Vinyl / Atlantic (cat# MOVLP2817), a reissue of the 1987 album.