Year in Rock 2012 Nominee: Testament

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TESTAMENT
Dark Roots Of Earth
From: Dark Roots of Earth
Released: July 31

All the talk about “The Big Four” of metal focuses on the failures and shortcomings of what many metalheads consider the last of the old guard; Metallica's downward spiral into self-parody, Megadeth's detours into lunacy, Slayer's constant rehash and Anthrax's personnel troubles. Not to say that these bands are all bad or anything; indeed, they're all still very successful bands with devoted fans. But, what of Testament, the band that was always just there? They made great records, but never caught the public's attention like The Big Four; maybe that's why they were never really taken all that seriously when it came down to who sucked and who was awesome. Now, with all four of those other bands distracted with their various issues, Testament just up and released another indisputable beast of an album in Dark Roots Of Earth. While the other four were seemingly fighting over the crown, Testament walked past the ruckus unnoticed, and took the fucking throne.

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