On 1989’s “Practice What You Preach” the band changed their focus lyrically, moving away from occult and gothic themes to focus on more socio-economic issues, and musically while still portraying its thrash metal roots it saw them utilising other influences, bringing a more traditional heavy metal sound to their songs. This saw some discussions within the fan base and music critics who felt they were abandoning their roots, but in general the album was met with high praise and sales. It also saw them tour with much of the cream of the trash metal artists from around the world, which lifted their profile greatly.
For the release of their follow up album, the band found themselves under time pressure to produce and complete the album. The album only came about as quickly as it did because Testament was offered the chance to participate on the European ‘Clash of the Titans’ tour, with Megadeth, Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies. Guitarist Eric Peterson explained to Guitar World magazine after the tour, "We kind of rushed out “Souls of Black” just to get on the bill, because we didn't want to miss the tour and our label said we had to have an album out. We had done some touring with Slayer that year, and we did shows with Megadeth two or three years prior to that”. The ultimatum from the record company led to the band coming off the road in June of 1990, cutting short a successful and popular run of shows, in order to record the new album and have it released prior to the tour occurring. Did the album suffer from this rushed preparation, or did the band already have in their heads how they wanted to proceed with it? All would be revealed with the eventual release of their fourth studio album, ominously titled “Souls of Black”.
While the album previous to this may have had a facelift and technical changes about it which sets it apart from the band’s first two albums, those changes were more a part of the band looking to expand its influences in an era where the out-and-out thrash metal era was reaching its zenith. That in itself had required for slight changes along to way, and Testament had in its own way merely followed the signs that were being left, and taking on slight changes to help keep themselves relevant in a turbulent music period. For the most part, “Souls of Black” comes out in the same way. Are the songs here as aggressively thrash and fast as what they were playing back in 1985? No. But are they any less good as a result of the maturing that the band was undergoing in its songwriting? In my mind, no.
The instrumental opening of “Beginning of the End” kicks us into “Face in the Sky” which immediately puts forward the best of what Testament has to offer. Chuck Billy brings his vocals to us with enthusiasm and style, and that Alex Skolnick guitar makes itself noticeable from the outset, and his solo through the middle of the track brightens everything and brings a smile to the face. We then charge into “Falling Fast” which continues to push the roller coaster along the track at speed, the gathering momentum of the drums from Louie Clemente and rhythm of Christian’s bass and Petersen’s guitar drive the song to greater heights, which is topped of by Alex’s solo once again. Another beauty to open the album.
The title track “Souls of Black” is one of the best examples here of songs that are more of that traditional heavy metal focus than thrash metal. It steps into its rhythm from the outset, that head bobbing and corner-of-the-lip raising riff that follows Greg Christian’s bass riff opening of the track. It remains the basis of the song, morphing only as Alex Skolnick rips into his guitar solo. Perhaps its simplicity throughout is what turns some fans off, but it gives the listener a song to really just move along to the groove with, and with very singable singalong lyrics from Chuck Billy as well. This then crashes straight into “Absence of Light” which returns the album to its faster speed focus, and basing itself on the same building blocks as those opening to tracks on the album. “Love to Hate” is driven to its faster tempo by Louie Celemante’s double time hammering on the drums and a sensational guitar solo through the middle section from Alex Skolnick that changes the tempo even further and brings you memories of the band’s earliest work. The first half of the album is populated by tracks of which none exceed four minutes, and that is to the betterment of the album. The songs are here, they rattle your head, and then bang! We move onto the next one. Terrific stuff.
“Malpractice” is the first of the final four songs, all of whose length all stretch to almost the five minute mark. The great double time opening sets the wheels in motion here, the rhythm riff is terrific and yes, that solo again is peak Skolnick. Another of the great songs on the album. “One Man’s Fate” settles into its death like tempo and clicks along in its faster-than-mid-tempo with the rhythm holding up its end of the bargain again, Clemente bashing his drumskins harder as the song draws on and mixing up his tempo strikes along the way. To follow it up we are then offered “The Legacy”, the band’s ballad track to follow on from their ballad on the previous album which was called... (checks notes)... “The Ballad”. Right. Much like that track, this one is performed exceptionally well. Chuck again sings it amazingly well, and musically it is wonderful. Isit overlong? At 5:30, yes it is. Is it an album killer? Not particularly. It does ramp up halfway through and brings enough to the album to make it feels as though it is a part of the furniture. It’s placement this close to the end of the album allows it to be the point of difference without marginalising what comes around it. But you know... it’s a ballad... so it's a hard sell for me. The album then concludes with “Seven Days of May”, a far more desirable song, that chunks along in the mid-tempo again with Chuck delivering what is required from him, and Skolnick continuing to deliver the solo that the song needs to break out of its monotony.
There is a darker focus to this album lyrically and musically than from “Practice What You Preach”. It may not translate to the thrash and speed of the earlier albums but the more traditional heavy metal both Chuck’s vocals and those guitars from Skolnick and Petersen are the key, drawing from the depths and delivering in wonderful style. And how can anyone not love Skolnick’s soloing on this album. It has been fantastic throughout his career in Testament, but hear it seems more focused and creates a bigger result and atmosphere because we are now not just getting an out and out thrash performance, we are hearing how proficiently technical and brilliant his guitaring technique is, and it is the star attraction of this album.
My first encounter with Testament came from their third album, “Practice What You Preach”. It was in fact the music video for that title track that I first encountered them, before heading out to buy that album on vinyl at my first opportunity. And it was one I loved listening to. So when it became known to me that they had ANOTHER album coming out so soon afterwards, I was on board from the outset. On a trip to Sydney to Utopia Records, I bought this album on CD not long after its release with a whole bunch of birthday money I had acquired. And it came at a time, as I am sure you are all well aware of now, that was a massively ridiculous time in the history of heavy metal music. And during that period, this is another album that could easily have slipped through the cracks for me. But it didn’t. I wasn’t listening to this as much as say “Painkiller” and “Rust in Peace”, but I was still listening to this a lot. It still made that impression on me at that time. I still remember one of my best friends, when I first played him this album, being completely blown away by what he heard, and while not quite proclaiming it to be a masterpiece, he was unstinting in his praise for it. G’day to Anthony if you are actually listening to this episode. I’m sure you remember that time and this album well.
There can be a case made that on this album the tempo and rhythm riffs utilised become a bit mundane, a bit samey, and a bit stagnant. To those who come into this album without having heard the band’s earlier albums, they may be surprised that this is held in such high esteem. It would be a fair argument that if you were to break down every song on this album and reduce it to its base entities, there would be similarities to each song across the board. Eric Petersen is the only member to be a contributor on each song on the album, and as rhythm guitarist perhaps he can be seen to be controlling that part of the album throughout. Perhaps, given the short timeframe available to the band, this was his way of ensuring the album was completed. These are just random thoughts without any sort of evidence to back them up, but it kinda makes sense when you listen to the album.
More to the point, if that IS true, it has never bothered me in the slightest. I have always enjoyed putting this album on and listening to it. I have never second guessed it. Coming into this week, and seeing it on my list of albums to review for this podcast, it was an exciting thought that I would get to pull out my 35 year old CD version of this album and get to listen to it again. And then that thought hit me. Seriously? 35 freaking years?! Where the hell has that time gone? I still remember being in my bedroom, downstairs at my parents house, where no one came to bother me, playing this album on my stereo and trying to air guitar along with Alex Skolnick as I listened. 35 years?! That can’t be right! But it is. And that’s just a little scary sometimes. But those memories came back to me again this week as I listened to this album again, and though it seems like yesterday, they are still good memories to have.
Testament began they slow move in a different direction from this point on, one that some disliked and others approved of. With that in mind, and with my history of the band, I would class this as the last of their classic era albums. There was still lots of great stuff to come from the band, but it was practically the final of their true thrash based material.
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