For their thirteenth studio album, thrash titans Testament have once again hit it out of the park, teaming up for another round with artist Eliran Kantor to create a fantastic cover, Andy Sneap at the mixing desk, and co-producer Juan Urteaga helping out Chuck Billy & Eric Peterson for the finished product, Titans of Creation. Alongside Billy and Peterson are co-guitarist Alex Skolnick, drummer Gene Hoglan, and bassist Steve Di Giorgio...easily the strongest line-up of Testament ever. Titans of Creation busts out of the gate with the tremendous "Children of the Next Level", a pummeling trash attack of massive proportions, the guitars of Skolnick & Peterson super crunchy, the leads sizzling, Billy's vocals roaring, and the rhythms precise & crushing. "WWIII" is fast, technical trash with plenty of groove, as is the sledgehammer "Dream Deceiver", Hoglan pounding away under a non-stop cavalcade of tasty riffing and explosive solos. Tremendous stuff. "Night of the Witch" is another assault of delightful thrash, Chuck spewing venom over propulsive arrangements, and things slow down a tad for the more progressive, almost doomy "City of Angels", acoustic guitars and pounding riffs taking things down a notch but no less potent.
The back half of Titans of Creation doesn't let up one bit, "Ishtar's Gate" reminds of vintage Testament with perhaps a touch of Megadeth, "Symptoms" is loaded with fat Di Giorgio bass riffing and plenty of crunch 'n' groove, while "False Prophet" is pure headbanging fun. "Code of Hammurabi" is another tasty treat where the bassist shines, his leathery lines saddled up to a wealth of intricate Skolnick & Peterson riffs, with Hoglan a precision machine with his relentless attack. The drummer even throws down some pulverizing blast beats on the raging "Curse of Osiris", complete with some lethal Chuck Billy screams & growls.
While some have stated that Titans of Creation is perhaps a tad on the long side, I don't think there's a weak track here and start to finish this album blisters, with the production sounding absolutely spectacular. 2020 is sure to be a great year for heavy metal releases, and this one has just jumped out to to the front of the line.
Track Listing
1 - Children Of The Next Level 6:13
2 - WWIII 4:48
3 - Dream Deceiver 4:58
4 - Night Of The Witch 6:32
5 - City Of Angels 6:43
6 - Ishtar’s Gate 5:09
7 - Symptoms 4:37
8 - False Prophet 4:54
9 - The Healers 4:23
10 - Code Of Hammurabi 4:52
11 - Curse Of Osiris 3:24
12 - Catacombs 2:01
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