Review by Felix on September 19, 2022.

Wow! It’s been 35 years since I bought this piece of vinyl (unbelievable and shocking), and I admit that I did not listen to the record very often during the last, well, 33 to 34 years. This is not to say that Testaments first full-length is a bad album – not at all. Nevertheless, back in 1987 thrash metal was, at least from my point of view, still pure ecstasy (“Reign In Blood”), cold-hearted violence (“Bonded By Blood”) or, in its less pure yet still mega-exciting form, crossover-influenced catchiness (“Game Over”). Three perfect albums – and then came “The Legacy”. Once again, a good album, but not even close to perfection.

A lot of good songs can be found here, a stable fundament of classics. Testament did not yet suffer from the "one killer one filler disease" in 1987. One can discuss about the short, somewhat expressionless “C.O.T.L.O.D.” (very weak chorus), which does not reach the filigree level of song-friendly guitar work that characterises this debut. This track wants to reflect the primitive and completely strict side of the band, but it fails to leave an authentic impression. It delivers a relatively solid crossfire, no more, no less. Instead of this song, the band should have put "Reign Of Terror" of the Legacy demo on the album. I will never understand why exactly this neckbreaker was the only song of the tape that did not get access to this debut. “Reign Of Terror” is missing, in terms of the song itself, but also in view of the general musical approach.

The remaining eight tracks give us the feeling to listen to good thrash, competently designed, equipped with energy, a proper dose of melody and a fine, sometimes even excellent flow. “Over The Wall” grabs the listener by his dirty collar and pulls him into the song and the entire album immediately due to its rebellious and speedy guitars. The dynamic “The Haunting” with its slightly bulky riffs is even better in view of the earworm chorus. This list could be continued up to the mighty, multi-layered closer “Apocalyptic City”. One hit follows the other, but there is a small amount of water in the wine. What I miss is a tiny little portion of raging madness. Sometimes single parts or screams border on insanity, but after all, “The Legacy” appears as an album of more or less controlled outbursts. Okay, “Raging Waters” or “First Strike Is Deadly” give almost full speed ahead and maybe I cannot fully express what I mean. For me it just feels as if the guys did not take the final step on a long and actually great journey. Or did they already know that slightly more melodic songs are their core competence? The extremely strong melody line of the verses of “Burnt Offerings” point into this direction.

In terms of production, Chuck Billy’s voice gives no reason to complain, but the recording of the instrumental section left room for improvement. “The Legacy” suffers a bit from the blurred drums and the guitars lack the deadly sharpness of the guitars of “Bonded By Blood”. The entire album sounds a little dull. Anyway, the songs reveal their strength and the casual riffing of “Alone In The Dark” or some furious parts of “Apocalyptic City” show impressively that the dudes do not run out of steam. This is why you can still pay attention to the record every now and then, even 35 years after its release. It is a thrash metal classic, no matter what I say and regardless of my objectively high though comparatively low rating.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 21, 2019.

From my point of view, it took 12 years (from 2001 to 2013) until Sodom were back on track. M-16 marked their final explosion for a long time, because two studio albums with new songs did not meet the expectations in terms of fury, quality and energy. The Final Sign of Evil wanted to reanimate the spirit of the early days, but it was also ambivalent, because a journey through time and space is always extremely difficult (especially when collaborating with a drummer who is suffering from alcoholism). But Epitome of Torture made clear that Sodom had regained its strengths and the overwhelming opener of Decision Day is another track that makes us forget this weak period of the band. A sinister line introduces the monumental "In Retribution" nearly cautiously, but the inferno breaks loose as soon as the veterans pick up speed. Straight leads, competent hammering and the well-known, mean and roughshod nagging of Angelripper lead to an apocalyptic, threatening chorus. Welcome to Decision Day - its trite cover leaves room for optimization, but the first track is free from any disturbing details.

The opener shows sustainably that Sodom have not become a more or less soulless accumulation of musicians. Do not confuse them with Kreator! Sodom's harshness still sounds honest and authentic, Tom Angelripper still looks pretty filthy and blatantly simple choruses ("Satan is real! Satan is real!" - I still wait for "Mille can't sing! Mille can't sing!") do not show up. The same applies for overly emotional sections. A few calm parts do not characterize the album which relies on generic, coherently constructed thrash. Of course, the material is more melodic and less black than that of Obsessed by Cruelty, but to believe that it can be described as melodic in objective terms would be a little bit stupid. Jagged riffs alternate with pretty well flowing leads. In addition, the breaks and tempo changes are seamlessly integrated in the overall design of the respective track. Seems as if Angelripper's wide experience prevents odd song patterns. Better still, he also knows to offer catchy choruses ("Caligula") that do not suffer from any kind of commercial ingredients. Background choirs are helpful in this context. The simple "aaaaahhh" of "Who Is God?" gives this track an additional flavor which is the icing on the cake of this riff-driven speed rocket. By the way, although I guess you are already aware of this fact, Sodom's composition does not focus on simplicity. The degree of variety is more or less perfect - it gives boredom no chance without overstraining the audience.

Sodom still like rapid rhythms, but they also manage the challenge to create mid-fast monsters with well hung riffs. "Strange Lost World" almost appears as an enemy to the dominating high velocity eruptions. This does not mean that it is a foreign body on Decision Day, but it spreads very different vibes in comparison with the other tracks of the album's first half. Anyway, the level of heaviness as well as the average velocity have not significantly changed in comparison to its predecessor. Sodom did not record "Epitome of Torture Part II", but there are no noteworthy modifications in terms of style. Moreover, Bernemann's solos still make sense. Some guitar heroes just create a noisy ego-trip, but this old warhorse does not give a f**k about narcissism. His solo excursions are well embedded in the songs. Incidentally, we are speaking about excellently produced songs. In technical terms, Sodom's 15th studio full-length flexes its muscles. Powerful, transparent, sinister and rigorous, these attributes describe an album whose mix does not lack depth. A comparatively multi-layered song like "Belligerence" reflects the advantages of the production most quickly.

Even though the best and most spectacular part of the album is already finished after 6:14 minutes, the remaining material is full of highlights and only a few tracks such as "Sacred Warpath" do not completely live up to expectations. Yet I don't want to get lost in details. In general, Sodom's evolution is absolutely exciting; once deemed as a bunch of miserable anti-musicians, they are now the spearhead of the so-called big four of German thrash. Honestly speaking, they are the only band of this aging quartet whose new works still add value to their luxuriant back catalogue. This does not mean that Angelripper's triumvirate is entirely immune against rather lackluster outputs, but Decision Day is definitely an awesome record. Let's go on for the next 15 albums.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10