Testament Of Rock (MP3 Music)

     It's perfectly appropriate that the cover art for Testament of Rock, the "best of" collection from Swedish metal band Astral Doors, features an enormous dragon that would make the late Ronnie James Dio (RIP) proud. Astral Doors nicked pretty much everything else from Dio, so they might as well claim the role of metal dragonslayers as well.Perhaps that's a bit harsh. Dio was a huge influence on the power metal genre, so it's understandable that a modern band might reflect - however strongly - that influence. Still, between vocalist Nils Patrick Johansson's dead-on vocals (funny how this never comes through when he's singing for Wuthering Heights) and songs like "Slay the Dragon," "Evil Is Forever" and "Time To Rock" (what, nothing about rainbows?), I often get the feeling Astral Doors is trying a bit too hard to imitate a legend.Issues of originality aside, this is a fantastically talented power metal band, and they do this kind of music very well. They've also...Read more

First you should know I've been a musician and metal head since 1980- (Iron Maidens first album, Priest- Sin After Sin, Black Sabbath etc.) and followed all types of metal bands over the years and still love metal in 2015. With that said, this is the best Power Metal I have heard in a while. Since I got the Testament of Rock cd I have downloaded many songs from Astral Doors and I listened to them for weeks! I only wrote a handful of reviews but this band must be reviled to everyone. Yes you can hear the Dio influence in the singers voice but you will hear other qualities as well- Tony Martin, David Coverdale, Tim Baker(Cirith Ungol) just to name a few. No doubt he has a unique style all of his own. Best singer I have heard in a long time actually. In my opinion, Dio had some very good early album-(Holy Diver. Last In Line) but started to fizzle out soon after with the music became redundant, gloomy and boring. Astral Doors kick ass on all of their albums and they are a solid,...Read more