Testament - Low
1994 Atlantic Records
by Uncle Meat

Quick Summary:
I’ve always ignored Testament.  I owned Souls Of Black but even that wasn’t anything special.  I mean compared to Ride The Lightening or Show No Mercy:  Souls of Black = Nelson.  The reason I picked up Low was it was on sale (in the bargain bin).  Am I going to go out and purchase all of their back catalogue?  No, but I have more respect for Testament as an outfit. 

Why were Testament ignored?  Good question.  They had the chops, the look (no, not Roxette) and the players.  Their fate was sealed to be “that other band” (I remember reading a Guitar World interview with Scott Ian, Dave Mustaine and Jeff Hanneman.  If I remember right they took a few shots at Testament, but maybe I’m projecting).  The funny thing is that unlike the above mentioned bands, Testament seem to have become the heavier band over the years, and when did Eric Peterson become such a good lead player?  The point is that Low is certainly worth your time.

Website:  www.testamentlegions.com

Song Summaries:

1. Low - Neither particularly fast nor heavy.  Good mid-paced thrash.  Chucky Billy sounds terrific.  His clean vocals mesh well with his growls.  B
2. Legions (In Hiding) - Starts out sounding like a war march.  More mid-paced riffing.  Especially under the solo section.  C
3. Hail Mary - Fast and more interesting that the last two songs.  Billy sounds like a tortured soul:  Screaming.  The drums are louder than they need to be.  B
4. Trail Of Tears - Epic balladry.  Peterson and Murphy play off each other nicely.  B-
5. Shades Of War - Rule #1:  Must follow ballad with fast song.  I have no idea if that is true, but it does seam to be the norm.  Nice choice too, along the lines of Hail Mary.  B
6. P.C. - Angry song.  Billy seams to go off on anyone who pisses him off.  The band responds with vicious/jagged playing.  B-
7. Dog Faced Gods - The most Slayer-like song.  The chorus suffers from sounding so forced.  B+
8. All I Could Bleed - Make sure to check out the rhythm underneath the solo.  Quality work.  B
9. Urotsukioji - I don’t know quite what to make of this song.  Greg Christian shows off his excellent bass skills in this instrumental.  The problem is this song goes nowhere fast.  It's just the band trying to “out-solo” each other.  D
10. Chasing Fear - Sounds like mid-80’s Anthrax.  About a minute too long.  Not too shabby.  B+
11. Ride - Another excellent thrasher.  The fade-out at the end in unnecessary, but…  B+
12. Last Call - Closing the album with an instrumental ballad might have seamed like a good idea at the time.  “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!”  C

Average Song Rating:  B-
Overall Album Rating:  B-

Also be sure to read:
Testament - Souls Of Black Review by Horatio