The 90s were weird for metal, man

Testament were never the biggest of the thrash metal bands. They weren’t even officially in the “Big 4” of American thrash metal (though there are plenty of us who would argue they should have been, or were better than the “Big 4”).

But, they will forever be my personal favorite thrash band. And their reaction to the 90s metal weirdness is just one of the many reasons they are.

So, in summary, Metallica stopped being metal, Megadeth did as well. Between grunge and later nu-metal, more traditional types of metal were floundering to some degree. There were exceptions, of course. Pantera became hugely popular during this time, at least in my opinion because they were so uncompromising in their approach.

Holding their ground

Still, there was Testament, toiling away, never nearly as big or well known as many of those other bands. The early 90s saw them changing their sound a bit, with 1992 release The Ritual being more melodic and sounding more mature and polished than previous albums. And one could certainly assume that they were trying to chase after the Metallica-esque success of The Black Album. However, while Metallica is a metal album, but not a thrash metal album, The Ritual still retains most of its thrashiness.

Yet, record companies saw the writing on the wall, and came to the band demanding they move in the direction of their peers, and release an album that was even more commercially marketable, approachable. Less metal, more hard rock, since that really was what was moving sales at the time. And Testament wasn’t immune to this. Founding member Eric Peterson has said that Atlantic Records, their record label at the time, came to them and demanded an “alternative” record.

Those who remember the 90s as vividly as I do will recall that “alternative” was just the catch all for stuff that wasn’t top 40, but also was most definitely not metal. In fact, much of it really couldn’t even be considered hard rock. It was huge, and it was selling millions of records. Take, for example, Nirvana’s Nevermind and it’s more than 10 million copies sold in the US in it’s lifetime, and compare that to The Ritual and its less than 500,000 sales. Clearly, one style was dominating.

From that standpoint, I could see suits trying to tell Testament what they needed to do. And Testament responded in the most metal way possible.

A middle finger to record execs

Low dropped in 1994, two years after The Ritual. And from the very first seconds of the first, and title track, Testament raised a huge, flaming middle finger to their record label. Low finds Testament at their most aggressive, their most pissed off, their most thrash metal, in both music but also in ethos. In fact, “Dog Faced Gods” from the album is pretty much just death metal. It is about as far from “alternative” as the band could have been.

You can guess what happened next. Atlantic Records dropped the band, and they went on form their own record label. And, unfettered by the demands of the suits at Atlantic, Testament decided to get a little weird in their own way.

Demonic stomped onto the ears of unsuspecting listeners three years later. And from the get go, you can tell you are in for something different. Opening track, “Demonic Refusal” counts in with a somewhat distorted voice, “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 6” and we are introduced full on to Testament’s version of death metal.

Demonic is not a thrash metal album. And for that reason, many people dislike it. Many even hate it. Opinions on the album vary widely. Just a glance across the internet will see review scores anywhere from 0 all the way up to 8 and 9 out of 10. So, why is it so divisive?

And why do I love it so much?

A case for something different

Look, let’s just get this out of the way, Demonic is not the best album by Testament. Not by a long shot. It isn’t a thrash metal album, and it shows. It lacks much of the speed and energy that is most often associate with thrash metal. The riffs are more simplistic, there really aren’t guitar solos (with perhaps one exception, though the solo in “New Eyes of Old” is very short). And Chuck Billy growls almost the entire album, with very little of his trademark gravelly singing.

So, yeah, it is weird.

But it also stomps. It stomps hard! With Gene Hoglan on the kit, the drums pop, are so precise and powerful that it makes me really pay attention. Yes, the riffs aren’t as intricate as they previously were, but they are heavy, thick, groovy and threaten to snap necks. And while I agree that Chuck Billy is an absolute beast of a vocalist, his use of death growls is compelling to me, despite being fairly one-note.

I like heavy music. And this was Testament just playing heavy music. This same year we got ReLoad from Metallica. It’s hard rock, and even some songs I wouldn’t give the hard modifier to. Megadeth dropped Cryptic Writings, an absolute snooze-fest of an album that is pretty much just AOR. So, at least half of the “Big 4” weren’t even playing metal anymore, let alone anything has heavy as thrash or death metal. Testament was carrying that flame, and would continue to do so with their even more punishing subsequent release, The Gathering two years later.

Still, I have to admit that, in 1997 I wasn’t in to metal the way I am now. I don’t know how I would have reacted had I been a fan of the band at that time, and perhaps it is looking back on it that colors my opinion.

I think Demonic is a great album. It is so much better than much of what Testament’s contemporaries were releasing at that time, and showed a band committed to playing heavy fucking music, even despite intense pressure to do otherwise. In thinking about writing this, I have listened to Demonic at least a dozen times, and it just doesn’t get old to me.

And as a flaming middle finger to the music industry, I love it all the more. What is more metal than that?