Titans of Creation

Well gang, it’s been four years since the last Testament album, so it’s time for another excuse to tour-- I mean, release another album! The last three albums have varied in quality, ranging from slightly above average to surprisingly great and then to total dog shit. It’s weird since at the end of the day, it’s just modern thrash metal with a squeaky-clean production, courtesy of old mate Andy Sneap. But there’s a world of difference between stomping out thrashers with a keen ear for melody, and just plain old background noise. Three guesses on where the other three post-reunion albums fit, and your first two don’t count. Anyway, Titans of Creation errs closer to the latter than the former, trading infectiousness for antiseptic compositions – it’s all in one ear and out the other. Great background noise when you’re working out or something, don’t get me wrong – unfortunately, you kind of want music to stand out as well, you know?

It’s a bit of a letdown if you’re one to take press releases at face value. Like, holy shit, more black metal riffs AND compositions influenced by Mercyful Fate? Now, let me tell you, the latter is outright snake oil. If there’s any Mercyful Fate in any of these songs, it’s very subtle – as in, it’s recorded at a pitch only the band can hear. The former is largely only found in the odd tremelo picked thrash break, although “Curse of Osiris” towards the end of the album has it in its tremelo picked verse riffs and some black metal shrieks during the chorus. Now, this is probably a coincidence, but “Curse of Osiris” also happens to be the most interesting song on the album – it’s punchy, there’s some decent riffs throughout its short runtime, and the added black metal influence does generally help it to stand out from the rest of the album...

...which is otherwise just bog-standard modern thrash metal. It all comes down to the riffs, which you’ve heard a million times. Whether it’s from Testament themselves or other thrash bands, either from 1988 or 2008 – hell, I’m sure Trivium and Evile were playing these riffs to fill in the blanks back in 2006, that’s how typical they are. But it’s not done in a way where it’s like “no wonder they’re typical” – basically, where they take those riffs and create something melodic or brutal (or both). No, it’s done to where I’m wondering where the fuck those black metal riffs are at. More accurately, it’s done to where I’m perpetually five seconds away from turning this album off and putting on The Legacy.

I mean yeah, the riffs thrash on through – and Gene Hoglan’s drumming is generally lively enough to give them some lift, and the guitar solos can certainly shred. The gallop in the introductory song, “Children of the Next Level”, gives off the impression that the whole album will back up its unimpressive specifics with high energy compositions. By the end, however, it all depends on where and when you’re listening to the album. The fast thrashy riffs, the harder-hitting mid-paced riffs all backed up by Hoglan’s drumming gives you the kind of energy you’d want for a workout. People would be moshing to this shit. But Dark Roots of the Earth does the same thing, only with more melodic compositions that stick in your mind well after listening to the songs. Titans of Creation doesn’t have that. It’s good in the moment, and that’s it. Yeah, that’s a steak, but where’s my sizzle? At least put some salt and pepper on it before you cook it!