[2][3] 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).

[7] 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.

The skilled interplay between Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson, which features a wall-to-wall showcasing of intricate and harmonized runs, back-and-forth soloing, hooky riffs and metallic perfection, is at the centerpiece of this album.

"[17] Dark Roots of Earth sold over 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, and reached number twelve on the Billboard 200—Testament's highest U.S. chart position to date.

[22] By March 2013, Dark Roots of Earth sold around 60,000 copies in the U.S.[23] To promote the album, Testament embarked on a U.S. and Canadian tour co-headlining with Anthrax and openers Death Angel in fall 2012.

[25][26] In January and February 2013, following the dates with Anthrax and Death Angel, Testament embarked on a U.S. headlining tour with Overkill, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Australian band 4Arm.