Why do we consume what we consume? Sometimes it’s been a week, you know? And you just want to sink into familiarity, not worry about anything other than indulging youthful nostalgia. Which in my case is very much metal from the 80s. I was never one to hold onto the things from my childhood, meaning all the cassettes and albums I collected as a kid were tossed as soon as I started moving from apartment to apartment, and then got married, and moved again. So it’s been a slow re-build of some of my beloved thrash albums, starting with Testament, who Nuclear Blast saw fit to start re-issuing on vinyl last year. And even though it was the fourth album by them I got as a kid, we’ll start at the beginning with The Legacy, because it’s only gotten better over the years.

We’re not going to worry about the recent remaster: it pumps up the drums and bass at the expense of the guitars and sports some crappy “alternative” album art. It also felt like a shitty cash grab, being announced right after they shipped the original reissues. Besides, I love the weird yellow and purple that adorns the original cover, and as “Over The Wall” kicked off it sounded just like I remembered: that wicked riff spinning into Louie Clemente’s drums, amping the speed into a frenzied gallop. Chuck Billy’s voice leaping to those high screams and managing to fit as many syllables into his verse lines as Bruce Dickinson after a fight with Steve Harris (I was going to go with an Elvis Costello reference, but the Maiden felt more appropriate).

I love how many things the band tries to fit into a lean 38 minutes, leaning into what’s already come with stone cold classics from the Big 4 but putting some slick progressive riffs and killer technical solos thanks to Alex Skolnick. If there’s a strong connection to any of the godfathers it’s probably Metallica, owing to Billy’s vocal delivery and the way some of the chops are strung together, but it’s tenuous. It’s also stacked head to toe with primal thrash classics: excepting “Raging Waters” and “Do Or Die” which are absolutely fine every single song is a killer. When your opening salvo as a band is “Over The Wall”, “The Haunting”, and “Burnt Offering” your first strike is indeed deadly (yeah, I did that). In fact put up against the opening three tracks of the Big 4 I’d argue only Metallica did it better.

But The Legacy is certainly more than those opening tracks. “C.O.T.L.O.D” is a terrific call to arms, and Eric Peterson’s riff writing is on full display. When he and Alex Skolnick locked in, they were a force to be reckoned with, laying out a dizzying array of guitar parts that pile one atop the other on the heavier tracks. Then we get to “Alone in the Dark” and the mood darkens further and that melody insinuates itself into your brain. Such a late, great track. I’m probably one of the few people who, despite not liking re-recordings as a rule think Testament are one of the few bands to do it right, and hearing Steve “Zetro” Souza sing it on First Strike Still Deadly is fantastic, but there’s no doubt the original is an all-timer. And that’s not even the end of the album, because we still have the fury of “Apocalyptic City” to close it all out.

I came to thrash later than everything else, finding my way to it via hair and glam metal and yearning for heavier, darker. So all of them, from the Big 4 to the Next 4 I usually came in via their second or third albums. Such was the case with Testament, whose Practice What You Preach was my gateway. But I soon worked my way backwards, and despite a number of great albums in either direction The Legacy might just be, well…their legacy.

Sorry not sorry.