Testament arrived on the thrash metal scene way back in 1987. They came in the wake of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. Because of their "next wave of thrash" status, I sort of heard them as a Metallica knock-off.

Of course, back when I was first listening to them way back in the day I did not have the, ahem, taste that I have now, and did not appreciate them as much as I should have. Sure, I recognized the talent that Skolnick possessed and enjoyed a number of the tunes, but the true realization of quality did not dawn on me until much later. Now what does this have to do with The Formation of Damnation? Well, to fully appreciate where we are now, we need to have a handle on what has come before.

Throughout the 1990's the band saw a number of lineup changes, with only vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson remaining throughout. Despite the shake-ups, Testament soldiered on, delivering a number of excellent albums (even if I did not recognize them as such at the time).

This leads me to one of the significant items surrounding this release. With the exception of drummer Louie Clemente, The Formation of Damnation features a reunion of the original lineup for the first time since 1992's The Ritual. Yes, Alex Skolnick is back to spread his guitar mastery, along with some new tricks he's learned over the years.

Earlier this year, in preparation for this release, Testament's last two studio albums were remastered and re-released, Demonic and The Gathering.

I had the opportunity to review both of them, and let me tell you, they are great metal albums that did not get their due when they were originally released. Listening to them, and then listening to this new album, it is amazing to see how consistent they are. Despite nine years lying between The Gathering and The Formation of Damnation, they have not missed a beat. It is as if the band never took a break, and the original members never left.

For anyone who has followed a band over the course of a long period of time, you surely recognize the difficulties they have in keeping their music fresh, original, and generally strong. Some may have dips in quality only to come back with a strong entry, such as Megadeth (yes, United Abominations is that good). Or, they seem to fall off the table with regards to where they came from, like Metallica (hopefully their next album will see a return to their thrash roots. Hey, I can dream). But precious few are able to deliver a consistently high level of quality. Testament is one of those bands, and while I still have some gaps to fill in, I have no doubt that they will prove to be as consistent as their last four or five albums have been.