In at 65 is Testament and when it comes to Testament, what is their best album and why is it The Gathering?? Follow up question and that is what is their best song and why is it “D.N.R.(Do Not Resuscitate)?” Clearly, “D.N.R.” is Song Pick Of The Week so let’s take a look….
I can remember first getting into Testament and there were two songs that really caught my ear. The first was “Practice What You Preach” and the other being “D.N.R.” and while the former is a great song, the album just isn’t as strong as The Gathering. It’s the song to kick off the album and from there it just kicks your ass from start to finish!! Released in 1999, the song and the rest of the album were written by both vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson and the meaning of the song is about confronting one’s desire to escape psychological torment through permanent means. It’s about dealing with a lifetime of accumulated pain, broken promises, and disillusionment that has pushed someone to their limit. The lyrics “Lies, broken dreams, dismal past” establishes the foundation of their despair, showing how accumulated disappointments have created an unbearable present reality. “All the hate and suffering” demonstrates that the narrator sees their existence as fundamentally defined by negative experiences rather than temporary hardship. The medical acronym becomes their final boundary, a legal and spiritual declaration that they’ve reached their limit of endurance. Now another cool fact is that this is one of the albums to not include Alex Skolnick on guitar however, James Murphy (Death, Cancer, Obituary) takes his place and I think he brings an added brutality to the table. Both he and Eric Peterson have a lot of death metal in them and of course you have Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and that makes for the ultimate lineup. Honestly, this might be my favorite era of this band and I really wish I would’ve been able to see this lineup live. Another fun fact/performance moment is during their set at Wacken 2012, they dedicated this song to Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God frontman) who had just been freed from prison.
Song Stats:
Total Plays (so far): 721
Premiered: August 5, 1999 at Del Mar Station, Reno, NV, USA
Last Played: October 26, 2025 at TivoliVredenburg (Ronda), Utrecht, Netherlands
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