Decade of the Nail-Spiked Bat is misleading in at least a couple of ways. One, although the title makes it seem like it would be a compilation, it’s not. Sure, the songs are all "old," but they’ve been re-recorded. So you get all the tracks on the Ample Destruction, Jag Panzer’s first album, plus other demo songs that were written afterwards.

Knowing the above, the second and far more important thing that could be misleading is that Decade of the Nail-Spiked Bat is good. And it’s pretty surprising that it’s not. I mean, Testament re-recorded a bunch of old songs, and that was supposed to be great, no? And Jag Panzer is now technically the best they’ve ever been, so what’s the problem?

Blame the production. The sound on this 2CD album is so stale and lifeless that any glimmer of energy is stamped out before anything can happen. And Harry Conklin’s wandering, histrionic vocals don’t help, either.

The original Ample Destruction is brimming with young metal virility and boldness. The re-recorded stuff is a major bore. Get the old album, and let the new Jag Panzer stick to recording new Jag Panzer material. (3.5/10)