Testament (2) – Titans Of Creation

John Travolta look alike Chuck Billy is still up for buisness & in fine tune.Still as good as ever is the entire band.

I don’t know what happens at nuclear blast when a new Testament release comes out, but they’ve managed to make the last three releases sub par in terms of packaging. This pressing and I’ll guess the other versions of this release came sealed with the discs not in the gatefold but in between the flaps, sleeve isn’t big enough for the inners they came in, the jacket just feels smaller. They probably ordered the wrong dimension sleeves and shipped it out the way they did.

This is a beautiful pressing with great sound and minimal surface noise good sound stage can hear all instruments clearly

Jan21. A quick scan of the song titles before I start and this looks very interesting. Covers a lot of history and mythology, which I love. I could not help but look up a lot of the lyrics. The lyrics are also a strength. How would the singer remember all of these?
On a first listen, I have to say, this is metal I can get behind. Great riffs and I love the singer's vocals. These are the type of metal vocals I love. And what a tight band. This drummer must be a genius.
A six minute song would not be my pick of a way to start an album, but 'Children of the Next Level' is freakin' awesome. Everything a longish song should be. What a rollicking pace. 'WWIII' is faster and heavier than the opener but not as good. Pretty bleak too. What a riff to open 'Dream Deceiver' - reminds me of Powertrip. It has an old school metal feel through the chorus too. I love the punk-like punchiness of the verses of 'Night of the Witch', but overall not my favourite song here (and a little long). They really needed a shorter song in the opening half.
From what I can gather, 'City of Angels' is about the serial killer dubbed Night Stalker. The same one ACDC (I think) got hammered for, even though they weren't talking about the killer. Not the strongest song on here and third song for first five to pass the six minute mark.
'Ishtar's Gates' has me paying attention. Cool lyrics and what a riff. 'Symptoms' sounds more technical and then it too reaches a crunching riff. Not that they are bad, but after the awesome lyrics about history and mythology, these somehow seem bland. False Prophet also begins with some technical fret work. I love the vocals of 'The Healers'.
The guys have obviously been reading their Mesopotamian/Babylonian mythology as they return there with 'Code of Hammurabi'. I quite like this one and I could hear Mastodon in it. Then it is on to one of the major myths of Ancient Egypt in 'Curse of Osiris'. This is a rapid-fire and heavy song that would have been better near the start to break things up. I love the playing and lyrics on this, but it has my least favoruite vocals. The short instrumental, 'Catacombs', also seems wasted here at the end. It would have served as a cool intro to another song or the album.
Now, if I was a metalhead, this would get full marks. As it is, I loved this but will go a little conservative until I have decided where it sits in my metal tastes. However, if I was to do a top 10 thrash albums list right now, I would have to consider this album. Impressed. 4/5

The 2020 World Championship in thrash metal for TESTAMENT.
Twelve songs that refer to the symbolism of the beginning and the end of the world.
MUSICALLY it's hard and hellish fast.

Killer pressing. Dead quiet and really great stereo imaging. Some of that is clearly the mix but this is way more dimensional than the digital hi res. Highly recommended if you dig this record.

Album outro is the exact same riff that opens "Legions (In Hiding)" from the 1994 album "Low".

Is the Bonus CD a soundboard recording ? Thank you