The Formation of Damnation is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament. It was released on April 29, 2008. It is the first album Testament has released of new material since 1999's The Gathering. It is also Testament's first release with original guitarist Alex Skolnick since 1992's The Ritual and bassist Greg Christian since 1994's Low. This was also the band's only studio album recorded with drummer Paul Bostaph, who once joined Testament in 1993, but became a fulltime member in 2007 before leaving the band once again four years later.