Pestilence – Testimony Of The Ancients

Testimony of the Ancients is one of the stellar works of 1991, when almost every first death metal album laid the foundation for the next decades of the genre, that experiencing one of the peak moments. This is a cool album in every way, with its own aura, it appeared at the right time in the right place. And of course this album wouldn't be itself without Scott Burns' hand in recording it, and of course without the cover by Dan SeaGrave. But you already know all this - its classic.

On occasion, I was able to compare the sound of the remastered version of 2021 from Hammerheart with the new remastered version of 2023 on Agonia. It is worth saying right away that there is no way to compare with the original 1991 edition, so I will try to compare two different remasters. The difference in sound when compared sequentially is felt quite strongly.

The press from HH sounds more analog and warmer, in terms of frequency characteristics, low and upper ones prevail, while in the standard for such remastered versions, it is the middle frequencies that are greatly reduced. The recording seems to be more lively and wide, a small echo is heard. Intuitively, it seems that this particular press has more references to the original press (by the way, it would be really interesting to know how it really is).

The Agonia press sounds about ten percent louder, the midrange frequencies have significantly increased in the frequency balance, the sound has become sharper, clearer and steely. At the same time, there was less depth of sound, less raw echo. It would be fair to call the sound here closer to the CD version. Of course, vinyl gives off a certain dynamic as a media carrier, but digitization is felt more here.

The design of both releases is identical, there is nothing to complain about when comparing the covers, but HH looks a little richer due to the gold logo and thicker paper for a four-page insert. Also, both versions are pressed on GZ. There are no complaints about the quality of playback, everything is quite clean. Each of the versions separately sounds good, there is no reason to say that the sound is spoiled and it is impossible to recognize the cult album. So for lack of opportunity (or reasonable unwillingness) to spend 100+ euros on the first press, it is permissible to spend 20 euros on one of the recent reissues.

Beautiful tape. The sound is so nice on here and warmer than other formats. It is a very beautiful listen. Glad I found one for a good price. This albums is so damn neat!

I had some hesitations before buying but finally I spent some money through Agonia Records and received this beautiful release. Love it!!! Very good quality, the record has no audible cracks, and is very clean. Thanks to the plastic inner sleeve there aren't any dust or paper particles on any side of the disc. The extra photo sheet is welcome and a good rollback in the band's history.

My audio system isn't great but the remaster makes it sound better (less compression) than the original CD.

Muy buena presentacion y excelente precio, la calida de audio es excelente....

Un met de choix , boulot d'enfer , le frisson a chaque écoute ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝟏𝟎/𝟏𝟎

Still available in the Hammerheart online store! F**k the flippers!!!

For sure the best cover artwork the great Dan Seagrave (no pun intended) ever did (and he did a lot of great artwork) - a keeper for the artwork alone, to be displayed on the wall.

This is probably my favorite album I've ever owned. Just like the first two Prstilence albums I bought this when it was first released (on cassette, as I did not own a cd player yet) This is also the first cd I I ever bought. ( along with 'How will I laugh tomorrow, when I can't even smile today' by Suicidal Tendencies. The new Pestilence cd ' EX I T I VM ' is a brilliant additon to the excellent Pestilence catalog.

One of my favorite albums of all time, solid from start to finish ; lucky to finally added it to my collection in mint condition on a fair price

Hammerheart Records really knows how to put together a quality repress with amazing packaging. Love the heavy duty card-stock sleeve, hot foil printing, 180g vinyl in a nice inner sleeve, and insert! Really happy with this and Cryptopsy and Emperor represses I have of theirs! Top notch!