Testament: Souls Of Black

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1990 was arguably thrash metal's peak. Check out some of these albums, which were released then:

Prong, Beg To Differ (3/12)
Death Angel, Act III (4/10)
Flotsam And Jetsam, When The Storm Comes Down (5/1)
Forbidden, Twisted Into Form (May)
Vio-lence, Oppressing The Masses (late spring)
Pantera, Cowboys From Hell (7/24)
Anthrax, Persistence Of Time (8/21)
Judas Priest, Painkiller (9/3)
Megadeth, Rust In Peace (9/24)
Slayer, Seasons In The Abyss (10/9)

Despite having success with 1989's Practice What You Preach, Testament somehow felt pressure to come out with another album. They rushed the writing, recording, and production of Souls Of Black. The under-developed songs and sloppy recording just killed Testament's hard-earned momentum. Arguably, they never recovered.

Not that I knew it back then, but Testament's Souls Of Black was actually released on the same day as Megadeth's Rust In Peace (9/24/90). Some people bought Souls Of Black on cassette, others got the CD. IIRC, mine actually came in a cardboard "long box." A small record store on Santa Cruz's Pacific Avenue mall had Souls Of Black on vinyl LP.

Well, Souls Of Black is now available on SHM-CD. Like most SHM-CDs I have, the transparency is enhanced. It's like a cleaner window, through which you can see the music more clearly. Unfortunately, this cleaner window confirms that the original recording is sloppy. It's also a frustrating listen in that, the ingredients and potential are there. Testament really should have taken more time to develop, refine, and complete the songs. After all, taking their time paid off for Metallica, when they made their eponymous album, which didn't come out until August 12, 1991. So imagine what Testament could have done with their songs, had they taken the time to make them better, fulfill their lofty potential.

Most likely in early '91, my friends and I saw Testament open for Slayer, at Oakland's Henry J. Kaiser auditorium.

Well, if you absolutely must have Souls Of Black, get it on SHM-CD.

The Audiophiles' DJ,
-Lummy The Loch Monster

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Topic - Testament: Souls Of Black - Luminator 23:35:51 10/17/14 (5)

Where are you buying SHM-CD from? - Goober58 12:31:57 10/18/14 (3)

Boutique CDs - Luminator 13:27:31 10/18/14 (2)

RE: Boutique CDs - fantja 17:28:06 10/18/14 (1)

RE: Boutique CDs - fantja 17:47:30 10/24/14 (0)

RE: Testament: Souls Of Black - fantja 05:35:24 10/18/14 (0)

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