Next Level Thrash!
Aaahhh Testament, probably my favourite out of the Thrashers, I’ve always had a soft spot for these guys and here I am now taking a gander at their latest album ‘Titans Of Creation’ , a collection of twelve tunes to blow the cobwebs away. Stand by your beds people, here they come!
We take a look into the world of religious cults now with ‘Children Of The Next Level’ and the true story of Heaven’s Gate, a group who under the influence of their disturbed leader believed they were all destined to leave their bodies and be transported on a vessel bound for a better life away from here. These predators fed on the vulnerable; but our friends here would have thrashed his stupid ass onto the next level given half a chance. This is incredibly promising, a tune and then some, my god I love Testament. The classic thrash riffs and melodies continue in ‘WW III’ where we learn that ‘everyone is gonna die, there is no escape’. With its graphic and vivid lyrics illustrative of the destruction of war, and the drums at 4.32 coming at you like bullets from a gun.
The 80’s classic rock arrangement is in full force for ‘Dream Deceiver’, with Chuck Billy in fine form and as for the 2.22 lift off into the race across time and space riff, well you just gotta chase it down! From the ‘face of terror’ to the ‘grace of Hell’ we have a touch of black magic which sees the frets morph into broomsticks at 3.08 and take to the skies. In ‘City Of Angels’ we talk about Richard Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker, who was a serial killer in LA, extremely notorious and dangerous. The chorus is reminiscent of a ballad complete with soft, eerie whisperings. The historical content here is vast; it is culturally enriching and enlightening. Stand before ‘Ishtars Gate’ and shimmy along the grand entrance into Babylon, built by King Nebuchadnezzar II for Ishtar, the goddess of war and protector of the city. Chuck Billy slips into a kind of storyteller mode here in his delivery, both fascinating and cute.
‘Symptoms’ gives us more dizzying, perplexing riffery and stunning arrangements, it is a cohesive and well- produced body of work. Continuing on the theme of religion and its many faces and perceptions, we call out the ‘False Prophet’ and sadly there are many of them preying on the weakest in society. There is the eternal question of ‘when you speak to your God, does he care?’ which uproots anything we were taught as children, on reaching adulthood we begin to challenge these ideas and decide for ourselves. It boils down to a question of trust; the promise of a better Hereafter when this world has failed you. If you dissent, then it’s hearses for subversives’ ladies and gents.
This record is accurate in its depiction, and reasonable in its meting out of suitable chastisement to the crooked and the base.
Now settle down class for todays History lesson, the ‘Code Of Hammurabi’ which is a set of legal codes from Babylonian times setting out the laws of contract, family life, crime and punishment and liability, in accordance with the societal structure of the time. It is cited as one of the earliest incarnations of law as we know it today. Choc full of weeping and wailing guitars and creeping death drums, help yourself to another slice of Thrash.
At 2.01 the final track is the shortest here and it is an instrumental, quite handy as everything has been said, no words are needed, it’s time to brave the ‘Catacombs’ my friends. You will find a majestic finish to a right royal rumble in the old Egyptian world, and in the words of our zombie leader Wednesday 13 “Life’s a grave- dig it!”.
Testament – Titans Of Creation out now via Nuclear Blast