TESTAMENT — Souls of Black (review)

TESTAMENT — Souls of Black album cover Album · 1990 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Stephen
Testament began experiencing with their sound in 'Souls of Black' due to the volatile climate of musical industry. With many older bands facing difficulties and sometimes impossible obligation from the label, the new dawn of 90s shown an extreme change in many styles, and Testament didn't escape that. Widely rated low by their fans, in my opinion, 'Souls of Black' is, on the other hand, an undervalue commodity that was overlooked by many. Not only it still has the big hooks you always want in a metal band, this album's diversity is actually the key to their career development and to reach a new generation with a more acceptable mainstream edge isn't always a sin.

For example, 'Face In The Sky', the killer groove in the riffs and the heart-stopping drums, commanded by the assaulting voice of Billy, is tremendous and huge. 'Falling Fast' and 'Absence of Light' are still packed with incinerating riffs and some remarkable solos. 'Malpractice' has that 'Practice What You Preach' feel and Skolnick's shiny solo is a big spotlight. I found that 'Seven Days of May' isn't the masses favorite but this one is definitely a forgotten gem.

The title track, 'Love To Hate', and 'One Man's Fate' might fall into a good category, but still a very enjoyable songs. 'The Legacy' is a balladic attempt, though I consider it the weakest track of the album, the song itself is actually pretty nice.

People seemed to always compare this one to their earlier works and thus finding out that it's quite inconsistent, different, and lesser in quality which eventually remains unplayed for years without realizing that there are actually a lot of strong tracks inside. If you can ignore the production which had been plaguing many classic thrash albums, 'Souls of Black' is an interesting piece of history to be explored and I hope that you can dig out the treasure buried in this underrated record.
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