Worship Metal Album of the Week – Testament – Titans Of Creation
Age is but a number and Testament are belying theirs!
In our humble opinion, Bay Area thrash legends Testament have never released a bad album. Ever. That includes those mid to late 90’s death/thrash albums that rarely get a mention (Low / Demonic / The Gathering) and since their return to full time action in 2008, with the outstanding The Formation of Damnation, they have not let us down…..and now we come to album number 13, Titans Of Creation.
As expected, 13 is not an unlucky number because Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick, Steve Di Giorgio and Gene Hoglan (a supergroup in case you were in any doubt) are on absolute fire, ever-building on their output since 2008’s aforementioned The Formation of Damnation and often equalling their finest ever releases (The Legacy / The New Order / Practice What You Preach) from the 80’s. Age is but a number and Testament are belying theirs.
High praise indeed but it is warranted. Exhilarating opener, “Children of the Next Level” is a rhythmic bulldozer; a crowd-pleasing statement of intent which merely hints at the thunderous thrash to come! These guys have always been peerless thrash songwriters and Titans of Creation is positively overflowing with quality. From the unabated ferocity of first ‘single’ “Night of the Witch” to the melodic chug of “Symptoms” and onto the gloriously old-school thrash of “Curse of Osiris”, Testament barely put a foot wrong.
Expectations were high for this album and it is fair to say that Testament have far surpassed them. Performances across the board are astounding (no surprises there) and Chuck Billy’s throat is as versatile as ever. Praise, praise and more praise!
Lets’ face it, alongside Death Angel, Titans of Creation simply confirms Testament‘s standing as the most impressive old-school band (with a fully adapted modern sheen) in thrash. 8/10
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