Nearly five years after their formation, and well after other bay-area heavy hitters entered the public consciousness, Testament finally released this, their debut album. There are hints of the thrash force the band would become, but this release suffers from a lack of focus -- it may be one of the hardest and heaviest albums of the 80’s, but many of the songs are almost completely lacking in melody, making it heavy aggression just for the sake of heavy aggression. The speedier tracks are ultra fast, and it almost reminds you of someone running downhill and struggling to keep up with their momentum -- sometimes it seems like the band is playing like hell just to keep up with the tempo. However, the promise the band held is noticeable none-the-less...
"Over the Wall" has some nice riffs, and the twin guitar harmonies of "The Haunting" are nice, but both songs are somewhat disjointed midway through. "First Strike is Deadly" settles into a nice rolling rhythm in the middle third, featuring an almost neo-classical, arpeggio-based solo that makes the song, and the chorus of "Do Or Die" really hints at the more mature sound Testament would develop. The top two tracks are "Burnt Offerings" and "Alone in the Dark" -- the former also features twin guitar harmonies and a catchy, rolling chug with off-time bars that bring "Master of Puppets" to mind, while the latter is a real gem. It’s easily the most melodic and most riff-based song on the album, and features the best vocals, yet in no way tones down the aggressive feel.
A number of these tracks will get a re-working for the 'First Strike Still Deadly' release in 2001, and come out absolutely smoking afterwards.

TRACK LIST: Over The Wall/The Haunting/Burnt Offerings/Raging Waters/C.O.T.L.O.D./First Strike is Deadly/Do Or Die/Alone In The Dark/Apocalyptic City