Review Summary: A growing sense of stagnancy
Despite having one of the most bitchin’ cover arts in their entire discography, Testament was in a rather precarious position with their fourth full-length. The process behind 1990’s Souls of Black parallels what the band experienced when putting together The New Order, with the musicians havig since acknowledged that the recording sessions were rushed in order to get back on the touring circuit. But while that album’s limited circumstances led to a fresh approach, it doesn’t quite have the same effect here.
The presentation almost feels like a composite of the albums that came before it, seemingly pairing the tighter musicianship of Practice What You Preach with the darker otherworldly vibe of their first two outings. While this makes for some intriguing prospects, it gets marred by an even rawer production job than usual. There’s also a sense of fatigue in the actual performances as the band efficiently offers their usual tropes without as much fire backing them up.
This is also the first Testament album where the songwriting gets more noticeably pedestrian as opposed to some songs just being less good than others. While tracks like “Absence of Light” and “Malpractice” are competently structured, the performances come off stilted and result in less engaging hooks. It gets to a point where the back half is just flat out unmemorable with songs like “One Man’s Fate” and the closing “Seven Days of May” going in one ear and out the other.
Fortunately, the first three proper songs do a lot of heavy lifting in keeping the album from completely giving way to mediocrity. “Face in the Sky” and “Falling Fast” are solid thrashers with the latter featuring some particularly distinct higher-pitched vocal lines while the title track features the best implementation of atmosphere with its weaving bass line and a chugging riff set that plays like an update of “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” “The Legacy” is also notable as the album’s token ballad with some appropriately reflective lyrics.
While Souls of Black is hardly a trainwreck, it shows Testament entering the nineties with noticeable uncertainty. Albums like Rust in Peace saw a more ambitious approach to thrash than what the band was able to live up to, reflecting just how outpaced they’d become and there’s a sense of stagnancy even when judging it on their own terms. There’s still enough here for diehards to sink their teeth into, but I’ve always found this to be just another Testament album. I don’t think I’d ever repurchase this album but I’d at least get a shirt of that cover…
