Testify

Spinning Quietly on my Studio Monitors:
Testament: "Trail of Tears"

I can listen to this song forever. Although I really like the acoustic version on Live at the Fillmore, the studio version of the track, on the album Low is really good too. There's something about Testament's sound - from the crunch of Eric Peterson's dark riffs to the soulful, spirited runs that Alex Skolnick, and later James Murphy, integrated into the music. There's something about Testament that both reminds me of that critical period when I was thrashing it up in the early nineties and connects in some deep way to the many different interests that I've had over the years, from the environment ("Greenhouse Effect") to indigenous community issues ("Trail of Tears").

Maybe it's just that they seem to be able to connect the very powerful metal element of their music with something more rootsy, more basic, in a way that the technical thrash, math, and death metal bands aren't able to do. Even Metallica, in their prime, seemed more constructed than Testament. And I can say, without prejudice, that I can rock out far more regularly to Testament than I can to Metallica. And also just toss on a few tracks in iTunes from Testament that carry me within one particular mood. They don't mess up a track with intros or instrumental breaks that go on forever, nor do they sacrifice melody and vocal complexity for the sake of trying to make a record to quiet their critics and "retake the throne" of metal, the way that Metallica attempted with St. Anger, failing miserably. Testament never left their base, straying only as far as The Ritual would take them from their metal roots, before returning with a powerful vengeance in Low, Demonic, and The Gathering.

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Yeah - though I'm sure that very few of my readers are listening past the initial mention of Testament in this post (I'm sure that there's at least one reader still with me) - there's something pure about the way that Testament approaches the music. I wish that I had more of their albums on CD, actually. I have a road trip coming up next week to speak about the transition from Asian American student organizing to community-based work in NYC. I'll again use the Neil Peart method, filling my CD changer with select disks that I want to become more acquainted with, and allowing the thoughts and memories to flood through me as I drive for about 8 hours. Although I'll definitely miss D, I think that it's a good thing for me to have time on the road like that. Still, the weather has been more than treacherous, and I'm worried about the conditions. Stay tuned.