Album · 10 years old this year
Brotherhood of the Snake
Brotherhood of the Snake is the twelfth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on 28 October 2016 through Nuclear Blast. It follows Dark Roots of Earth from 2012 and arrives ahead of Titans of Creation in 2020, so it sits in the middle of the band's strongest later stretch.
Two details give it extra interest. Bassist Steve Di Giorgio returns for the first time since First Strike Still Deadly in 2001, bringing his playing back into the line-up on record. Andy Sneap is also back behind the desk, having mixed and engineered every Testament album since The Gathering in 1999 and produced Dark Roots of Earth. The record debuted at number twenty on the Billboard 200, the band's second-highest US placing after that earlier album, which reached number twelve. A good one for thrash fans who like seeing a long-running band still pushing forward.
Brotherhood of the Snake: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 45:26Tracklist
- 1Brotherhood of the SnakeEric Peterson and Chuck Billy4:13
- 2The Pale KingEric Peterson and Chuck Billy4:51
- 3StrongholdEric Peterson and Chuck Billy4:00
- 4Seven SealsEric Peterson and Chuck Billy5:38
- 5Born in a RutEric Peterson and Chuck Billy4:57
- 6Centuries of SufferingEric Peterson and Chuck Billy3:34
- 7Black JackEric Peterson and Chuck Billy4:21
- 8Neptune’s SpearPeterson, Skolnick, Billy5:27
- 9Canna-BusinessPeterson, Skolnick, Billy3:47
- 10The Number GameEric Peterson and Chuck Billy4:38
- Produced by
- Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson, Eric Peterson and Chuck Billy
- Recorded at
- Spin Studios (New York City), Trident Studios (Pacheco, California), Deer Creek Studio, Nevada City, California
- Recorded
- April 2016 – July 2016
- Mixed by
- Andy Sneap
- Mixed at
- Backstage Studios
- Engineered by
- Juan Urteaga
- Label
- Nuclear Blast
- Length
- 45:26
Line-up
- Steve di Giorgio · electric bass guitar
- Gene Hoglan · drums (drum set)
- Eric Peterson · electric guitar, background vocals
- Alex Skolnick · electric guitar
- Chuck Billy · lead vocals
Singles
- “Brotherhood of the Snake” · 2 September 2016
- “Stronghold” · 12 October 2016
- “The Pale King” · 31 October 2016
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2016 | 20 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2016 | 43 |
| US Independent Albums · 2016 | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2016 | 2 |
| US Hard Rock · 2016 | 2 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2016 | 2 |
| US Tastemaker · 2016 | 3 |
| UK Independent Albums · 2016 | 10 |
| German Albums · 2016 | 11 |
| Polish Albums · 2016 | 11 |
All 25 charts
| Swiss Albums · 2016 | 16 |
| Finnish Albums · 2016 | 18 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2016 | 22 |
| Austrian Albums · 2016 | 23 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2016 | 23 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2016 | 24 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2016 | 24 |
| Scottish Albums · 2016 | 26 |
| Italian Albums · 2016 | 28 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2016 | 29 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2016 | 42 |
| Swedish Albums · 2016 | 43 |
| Spanish Albums · 2016 | 53 |
| Dutch Albums · 2016 | 74 |
| French Albums · 2016 | 87 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
48.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.6k
ListenBrainz listeners
23k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
4.3k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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Full discography →
The Legacy
1987
Trial by Fire
1988
The New Order
1988
Practice What You Preach
1989
Souls of Black
1990
The Ritual
1992
Return to the Apocalyptic City
1993
Low
1994
Live at the Fillmore
1995
The Best of Testament
1996
Demonic
1997
Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament
1997
The Gathering
1999
The Very Best of Testament
2001
First Strike Still Deadly
2001
Days of Darkness
2004
Live in London
2005
The Spitfire Collection
2007
The Formation of Damnation
2008
Live at Eindhoven ’87
2009
Dark Roots of Earth
2012
Dark Roots of Thrash
2013
Titans of Creation
2020
Para Bellum
2025
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 28 October 2016 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 28 October 2016 | |
| Wikidata | 28 October 2016 | |
| Deezer | 28 October 2016 | |
| US release | 28 October 2016 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 28 October 2016 | earliest UK or European date |
5 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 October 2016 | XW | Nuclear Blast | 0727361337209 | original |
| 28 October 2016 | JP | Chaos Reigns | 4562387201594 | original |
| 28 October 2016 | XE | Nuclear Blast | 727361332716 | original |
| 28 October 2016 | XE | Nuclear Blast | 727361332709 | original |
| 28 October 2016 | US | Nuclear Blast | 727361332709 | original |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 960×960 | upscaled |