The Bay Area thrashers slow the pace a little and return with the follow up to the impressive 'The New Order' with this more polished effort, showing maturity as the band attempt to grow into the league occupied by Metallica and Megadeth. 'Practice...' is everything you expect from a quality San Francisco thrash record, although it lacks the energy of say Death Angel or diversity of Mordred, it still works the pit of fans into a frenzy for some true moshing heaviness.
Chuck Billy is on fine form with the vocal duties, clear as a bell but deep and chanting through the title cut, and far more brooding on the subtle 'The ballad'. With Testament you always sense an air of predictability, you know the acoustic strums will merge into a more metallic chug, and the framework of the songs always have that classic metal feel, but maybe it's that kind of formula that caused the band to be left behind as the bigger thrash acts moved on, although Testament's later efforts would certainly get them back on track, even if they could never scale the heights of Metallica etc, but Testament have always stuck to their guns and 'Practice...', with its thundering bass lines, and there's some very solid tracks om offer here. You could certainly do a lot worse than Testament, although I'd advise you steer clear of the bands rushed follow up, 'Souls Of Black', but check out the later efforts such as 'The Ritual' for better dynamics.
7.5/10
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