Dark Roots of Earth by Testament

Dark Roots of Earth is the tenth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament. It was released on July 27, 2012 in Europe, and four days later in North America by the independent German record label Nuclear Blast Records. The album is available in three configurations: CD, CD/DVD and vinyl with the latter two versions including four bonus tracks. The album was produced by Andy Sneap, who mixed and engineered the band's previous three studio releases, The Gathering (1999), First Strike Still Deadly (2001) and The Formation of Damnation (2008). The album artwork was created by Eliran Kantor. A music video was made for the track "Native Blood". Dark Roots of Earth entered the Billboard 200 at number twelve, Testament's highest position ever. This album saw a reunion with Gene Hoglan, who played drums on the band's 1997 album Demonic. During the recording, Hoglan filled in for Paul Bostaph who was unable to attend the recording sessions because of a "serious injury", although the latter left the band in December 2011. Chris Adler of Lamb of God provided drum tracks on the iTunes bonus version of "A Day in the Death". Dark Roots of Earth is also the last Testament album with bassist Greg Christian, who left the band for the second time in January 2014.