Titans of Creation

Testament is a band I wish I could love more. Like one of my favorite bands, Exodus, they both live in the shadow of the big 4, each with one monumental debut masterpiece and subsequent releases failing to reach those same lofty heights. The difference is that Exodus has had at least 3 releases which rival their debut, and for me personally, Testament has never gotten close to beating The Legacy, not for lack of talent or trying. Just have a look at the lineup! Along with the classic trio, they've got two masters in the rhythm seats. With such a vast amount of talent, one might expect a late game comeback like Exodus has had in the last 8 years. However, this has not been the case. Testament has been on a creative plateau since 1999's The Gathering, but have seemed to decline during the course of the 2010s. This gradual decay culminated in one of their most boring releases yet, 2020's Titans of Creation.

This album's biggest problem is that many of the songs feature some of the most basic, toned down riffs I think I've ever heard from Testament. There's a couple songs full of riffs like these, like Ishtar's Gate. There are some good songs on here too, like Night of The Witch, which features some of the most intense and best moments with the drums and guitars... but it's next to Dream Deceiver and City of Angels, both of which have a lot of basic moments. Curse of Osiris is another great track which apes black metal a bit, but that's fine because at least it's different and not made up of by-the-numbers thrash riffs. It's hard to enjoy the better things about this album, like a couple fun little DiGiorgio and Hoglan moments, the solos, and the occasional banger, because it always seems to end up back in so-so-ville.

It's a regression in most ways: less inspired/intense, less bangers, worse lyrics, but there's also, for some reason, more of it. This album has about 13 more minutes of material than Brotherhood of the Snake but has pretty much nothing to show for it. Most songs on here are also longer than they need to be, which combines with the aforementioned bad riffs to make everything seem that much longer. More is not truly more when the material is as bland as this is. Pare this down to 40 minutes by cutting the worst tracks or reducing the bloat, and this could have been a fine successor to Brotherhood of the Snake. Instead, it's a step back in most areas.

I want Testament to release the album I know they're capable of. There's way too much talent in this band for them to be phoning it in so much. They've got a solid core trio and downright virtuosos in the rhythm department, there's no reason for them to be writing such a standard album. It doesn't have to be super dense and technical like Hoglan and DiGiorgio were able to showcase on Individual Thought Patterns, it just needs more than 2 or 3 great songs, some memorable riffs, and some hooks. Ultimately though, Titans of Creation only delivers prime Testament material for a third of its runtime and does little to nothing special with the rest.