Testament – ‘Titans of Creation’ CD

Testament wastes no time making their intentions clear on their latest record, ‘Titans of Creation.’ There are no overindulgent extended intros, and there is zero wasted motion to be found.

The album launches with ‘Children of the Next Level,’ a catchy and forceful thrash anthem that sees Chuck Billy leading the band’s charge with his trademark vocals snarls.

Guitarist Alex Skolnick also uses the opening track as an opportunity to immediately show off that he is in super-shredder mode with his solos throughout this record. He has long been revered for his guitar work, but this time, there seems to be a stronger sense of urgency and speed with almost every moment he unleashes here, at least compared to more recent albums.

While Testament has in the past shown to be capable of much more in terms of lyrics and songcraft, the fact that the band is using their power in 2020 to simply put out a killer thrash record full of songs about well-worn topics such as World War III, serial killers from a generation ago, and the Heaven’s Gate suicide cult is comforting and very welcome.