Titans of Creation

I have been a Testament fan since my first spin of Legacy back in 1987, the year of our lord. It was also that year I saw them live in a Grand Rapids, MI basement bar, not much bigger than a dorm room. It was one of the best pure music shows I've ever seen. So yeah, I love Testament. Some albums much more than others, but overall Love.

There are many ways to review an album. It can be compared to past Artist's albums. It can be compared to other artists' work. It can be reviewed without prejudice of past artist's work. Before I review an album, I try to spend a good week listening to the album no less than 5 times through, in its entirety. I've found throughout the years, songs that immediately grab me upon first listen often don't withstand the test of time, even a half dozen spins.

My initial reaction of Titans Of Creation was that of expectations met. A Testament album always delivers a met expectation to me. This fact, however, does not mean every Testament album is created equally! What I expect from every Testament album is Chuck Billy's vocal range & growls, metal solid riffs from Skolnick & Peterson, driving bass and drums, basically a rock solid metal release.

In the case of Titans Of Creation, exceeding expectations is not the name of the game. This is the exact type of album and music that I love and crave. None of the tracks are ROL (Repeat On Loop) for me. But they are all very good, very solid, metal songs. Having spent a week with the album (now more than a week), there isn't a song that I skip. There also isn't a song that seems to make me lose focus of anything but that song, Titans of Creation is a great metal background album for me. It satisfies my base craving for metal music at every spin.

My favorite tracks are Dream Deceiver, Code Of Hammurabi, City Of Angels, and Curse Of Osiris. I don't believe this is Testament's greatest album by any means. Testament delivers consistent solid metal, sometimes punctuated by greatness. Testament is a slave to astoundingly high bar level, set by The Legacy. Not many bands, past or present, can match the greatness of The Legacy. Having said that, I try not to compare any new Testament offerings to The Legacy.

Again, this is a solid digital offering of metal. There are no auto skip songs, but also no ROL songs. I give it a 65% for consistency and expectations met.