TESTAMENT — Souls of Black (review)

TESTAMENT — Souls of Black album cover Album · 1990 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Souls of Black" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Testament. The album was released through Atlantic/Megaforce Records in October 1990. "Souls of Black" is the fourth album release by Testament in little over 3 years, and it was alledgedly written and recorded a bit faster than the band had originally planned, but as Testament had been offered to be part of the European leg of the now legendary "Clash of the Titans" tour, which ran from September 1990 - October 1990 (and also featured Slayer, Megadeth, and Suicidal Tendencies), Testament wanted to have a new album out before the tour. They didn´t quite succeed in doing that, but "Souls of Black" was released on the day of the Stockholm show towards the end of the tour. Conincidently it was released on the exact same day as "Seasons in the Abyss (1990)" by Slayer.

The music on "Souls of Black" is Testament taking a step back to a harder edged sound after the rather sterile and powerless sounding "Practice What You Preach (1989)". That sound production sets the two albums miles apart. "Souls of Black" features a pretty raw guitar tone, and a relatively powerful production, but the songwriting is also generally of a harder edged nature. Except for the short acoustic intro track "Beginning of the End" and the effectful power ballad "The Legacy". Other than those two tracks the material on the 10 track, 39:16 minutes long album is hard edged and thrashy in nature. It´s not all tracks which stand out upon initial listen, but repeated listens reveal more hooks (although the relatively one-dimensional songwriting is a minor issue, and the word filler does come to mind a couple of times too). Some of the highligts include the above mentioned "The Legacy", the heavy and groove laden title track, and the closing track "Seven Days of May".

The musicianship is generally on a high level (drummer Louie Clemente is as usual the weak link though), but I feel I need to give a special mention to Alex Skolnick, who plays one blistering guitar solo after another throughout the album. The musical foundation is alright, but he provides the icing on the cake. That little extra which makes the album stand out a bit more. Upon conclusion "Souls of Black" to my ears sounds like a slight return to form, and while it was alledgedly written and recorded in more of a hurry than the band had wished for, I personally think the more raw and immediate material works really well. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
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Kingcrimsonprog wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Love it :)

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