TESTAMENT
SOULS OF BLACK
Album Dive
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SOULS OF BLACK
Released 10/9/1990
Studio Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California
Label Atlantic/Megaforce
Producer Michael Rosen/Testament
Chuck Billy – Vocals
Alex Skolnick – Lead
Eric Peterson – Rhythm
Greg Christian – Bass
Louie Clemente – Drums
TRACKS
1 Beginning of the End
2 Face in the Sky
3 Falling Fast
4 Souls of Black
5 Absence of Light
6 Love to Hate
7 Malpractice
8 One Man's Fate
9 The Legacy
10 Seven Days of May
Often in life you have to “strike while the iron is hot” because more often than not, the “First Strike Is Deadly” and not striking may result in lost opportunity and success. And while TESTAMENT were riding the wave of success from their first three albums and the subsequent tours that followed, their fourth album within three and a half years, SOULS OF BLACK, might have been a step too far.
Granted, the October 9, 1990 release of SOULS OF BLACK was a prerequisite for the band’s inclusion on the European leg of the Clash of the Titans tour, and while it’s chock full of riffs, incredible guitar solos, and “eerie harmonies” that are all essential elements of the TESTAMENT sound, overall “the chugs are lacking”, and understandably so, because after 3 albums and 3 tours in less than 3 years’ time, the boys from Berkeley could have used a much-needed break before going back into the studio after such an intensive writing, recording, and touring cycle, back to back to back.
It’s time to indulge in some “debaucracy” as we accidentally included the latest episode of “The Triangle” within this episode (“because everybody’s offended by everything now”). Find out what everybody’s “I can’t get to the radio fast enough to turn it off” song is, discover why “Velma was a little bit hotter than Daphne” (and remember that “you can get a lot for $100”), contact “the help desk of medicine” for some “apple wrapped bacon”, and prepare to understand which song is “the one I’m gonna bang my chick to” when you JOIN US as we dive into the darkness of TESTAMENT’s fourth offering, SOULS OF BLACK.
BEGINNING OF THE END
It almost has a weird vibe to it, like controlled, “unplugged” chaos, before it transitions and segues…
FACE IN THE SKY
…into THIS!
Definitely sounds like Testament (and high school). Somehow the production is a little off relative to the first 2 albums (and to some extent, Practice), although whenever you change producers that’s bound to happen. The guitars need a little more weight. Still kinda has the “Practice” vibe, solid groove.
“Walk with me my friend to a darkened place,
Welcome down to the abyss,
Caught between two worlds with no advocate,
The legion’s army
Holds on to your fate…”
FALLING FAST
Decent, faster, has more of the feel of the first 2 records, although the guitars seem a little buried in the mix. The vocals seem way up front, as do the drums. A lot of the creepy harmonies are buried in the mix and don’t seem as clear and articulate as on prior releases. It feels a little formulaic, but it’s got a good, hooky chorus.
Oh yeah, don’t jump off buildings and don’t end your life. Remember, tomorrow is another day to start over.
“Silence the sorrow and don’t let it slip away,
Think of tomorrow as the future of today…”
SOULS OF BLACK
The thunder and the bass are definitely that good “creepy/eerie” Testament vibe. It’s solid, but clearly, they could have used a break. I mean, 3 albums and 3 tours in 3 years!? It’s understandable that record labels like to strike while the iron is hot, but at some point, you run the risk of burning out the artists. (“Stop that!”)
It’s a 3-minute song that somehow seems longer than that. Definitely a bit more groovy than thrashy.
“Oh, can’t you see that in the world we live in,
Political lies are just corporate decisions,
They’ll take away all the hopes, not their promises,
They’ll put an end to this land of the livin’…”
ABSENCE OF LIGHT
Nice creepy harmonies, kind of a cool riff, but again, it feels sort of forced. There are elements that are still definitely Testament, but the different logo on the album cover is clearly an indicator that this isn’t the same band that released the prior 3 albums.
There’re moments here and there, but on the whole, it’s not nearly as exciting (or memorable) as the first 3.
LOVE TO HATE
(“The Preacher…”)
It kinda sounds like a song written by a band whose biggest influence is Testament, but it’s solid thrash. Some things could be tightened up a bit more though; by the last verse, it’s too long.
“To take out and follow through,
Just following their orders,
With death rates and death’s toll,
Those poor unfortunate souls…”
MALPRACTICE
Kinda has “Greenhouse Effect” vibes to it (ahem…formulaic?). The guitar tone is definitely not as
clear as on prior releases.
Somehow, that riff before the solo doesn’t seem to fit, and the riff underneath the solo just seems to be rambling, like it could have been something else entirely on its own. At over 4.5 minutes, it feels entirely too long.
“Within the laws, they’ll rip you off, they’ll wait you off, Malpractice!
And in the end, they’ll let you in, please come again, Malpractice!”
ONE MAN’S FATE
A bit different, the intro, with the drums and the bass. The riffs aren’t bad, but they need something more. There just seems to be a lack of hooks.
The solo and the solo riff, really the whole solo section just seems lacking & uninspired. If you can’t remember the riff, then it’s obviously not memorable. There are definitely “moments” on here (on this song and on this album), but you need more than a handful of moments to make a remarkable (memorable) album.
The outro, like the intro, is kinda cool though.
“Time is but a passageway, trying to believe,
Your life was sanity, a matter of time,
It’s all that you need,
Life’s not coming back,
Back to those better days…”
THE LEGACY
The big “ballad”.
It starts off with promise, and some gratuitous moments of guitar porn. I guess this was their “Hey, let’s try and get on mainstream rock radio so we can be as big as a mainstream rock band” song. It’s definitely a showcase for Skolnick’s shred skills, and it’s a decent song, but HFS, it’s just feels LONG AS FUCK!!!
Ironically, it’s kind of an emotionally flat ballad. That extra guitar solo was unnecessary, and this song is entirely too long. What is this, a Dream Theater radio edit? Cut this in half and make ½ of it an instrumental. How many guitar solos are needed anyway?
“Flashes of the day
I knew I was here to stay,
But no one stays the same…”
SEVEN DAYS OF MAY
The opening riff has promise…and a bit of a hook.
Regarding the incident in Tiananmen Square (or at least “loosely inspired by” those events), coming to a country near you, courtesy of totalitarian dictatorial regimes.
Again, how long is this song?
The chorus is decent and kinda hooky (with a couple of creepy/eerie harmonies), but the guitar solo makes NO sense, and neither does that riff. It completely doesn’t fit and is totally out of place.
The moral of the story: you can overmilk the cash cow.
After Practice, they should have taken a break and built back up the creative juices. Again, not a bad album per se, but not their finest hour. But at the end of the day, they still managed to put out an album AND tour AND be part of the Clash Of The Titans even after working their collective asses off for a solid 3-plus years.
“It’s called the People’s Republic here,
The propaganda so sincere,
Oh, what a joke and a blatant lie,
From criminals ranking high…”
Show Notes:
(00:01): *What happens when the red button is pushed unknowingly…* / “It’s buried in a #Mauslim or #Mausoleum somewhere…”/ #dryjuly #nosociallube / “I had a great #AmericaDay did you?” / #RussellsReflectionsJulyFourthEdition #IndependenceDayASMR / “They all spent like $100 each…”/ #fireworks #ordnance / “Did they clean up or blow it into the yard across the street?” / ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / “Hold on…okay NOW…”/ ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!!*** / “It’s just the…it didn’t work out again…” / “Let’s try it one more time…” / #taketwo / “I can do it in post…” / “I feel better…”/ #OldSmokyRootBeer #thisepisodesclinkyoftheepisode vs #MrBlackCoffeeLiquer / “Root beer float or Coke float?” / “Enjoy your July, #fuckface …”/ #cokefloat #cokerim / ***IF YOU WANNA SKIP THE NONSENSE…*** / “Stick around for the appetizers…that’s where the fun is.”/ “That’s your ‘I can’t get to the radio fast enough to turn it off…’” / “I just had this feeling…”/ “Our listener count is going down as we speak…”
(09:40): #PatreonShoutOut / ***Check us out on the #Patreon at Patreon.com/MetalNerderyPodcast for #thehogstory and #Doomsicle and MUCH MUCH MORE for less than the price of a cocktail!!!*** / “My point is, Bob’s coming down…” / “Wear your #MetalNerderyGear which you can procure at metalnerdery.com/merch …” / “It’s kinda that color…”/ “Let’s do a #Kittie episode…”/ “I think it’s because she’s got a vagina…”/ “Dude, they might love #PatBenatar …”/ “Big M, little organ…”/ “Chicks with glasses, yay or nay?” / #VelmaVsDaphne / “That was more of an ogling, if you will…”/ “Is it weird if…?” / “Because everybody’s offended by everything now…”/ #allegedly / “We’re halfway through the year and heading into #Armageddon …”/ #debaucracy / #RussellsReflections #TheTriangleUnredacted #TheTriangleASMR #BenShapiroImpressionASMR / #GARM / #ThePartyOfNothing / #Project2025 / “I think both sides…will do anything to keep him from winning…”/ “Swallows well?” / “A woman is a bowling ball…” / #wolkfolk / “He’s not German…”
(23:33): “I don’t know how you’d do it…” / #TheDocket METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: TESTAMENT – SOULS OF BLACK / Released October 9, 1990 / “It’d be funny if we brought up our #seniorpictures …”/ “But I went to #dayandnightschool for 3…”/ “#SummerSchool was awesome…you would go to a campus with a #brandnewmarket …”/ #LMAO / “It’s a little darker…” / #SoulsOfDarkBlack / “A little poppier…”/ #tobefair / “They basically released an album every single year (from 1987 til 1990) AND toured (for every album!)…” / #burnoutASMR / Testament touring with #WrathchildAmerica and #Annihilator and #NuclearAssault back in the late 80’s / “Suddenly it was like the new thing…” re: #WrathchildAmerica / “Four albums, four years and four tours in a row…”/ “That was the #tourshirt I had when they opened for #JudasPriest …”/ #TheOmni
(31:31): “I love the intro because it’s total #guitarporn …”/ BEGINNING OF THE END / FACE IN THE SKY / “It’s a little anemic…”/ “It’s very #Hetfieldish …”/ “Do it like #Epstein…” / FALLING FAST / “Everything needs to come up a little more…”/ “It’s not as whatever as ‘Practice’…”/ Michael Rosen vs Alex Perialas / “The chugs are kinda lacking…it’s a little #chugless …”/ SOULS OF BLACK #creepythunder #killerbassline #TestamentCreepy / “Don’t be insensitive…”/ “Isn’t it the same as #5?” / “Sounds like a shitty Italian dish…”/ “Remember…the loudness button? It sounds like they forgot to hit the loudness button.” / ABSENCE OF LIGHT #CreepyHarmonies / “There’s no bad #Testament …”/ “They’re like one step away from writing hits…”/ “It’s their Enter Sandman…”/ #ClashOfTheTitans / “That’s yesterday 33 years ago!” / “That’s a #Police song…” #synchronicityASMR / LOVE TO HATE / “The Preacher!!!” / “Sounds like you need more projection…”
(46:49): “Have you noticed…?”/ #burppower / “You know when you feel empty after?” / MALPRACTICE / “I did not set that up btw…it was magic…”/ “I think this was my favorite song on this album…”/ “Yeah the #guitarmix bothers me…”/ “Not to get on a tangent or anything…have you noticed…? / #TheHelpDeskOfMedicine / #TierOne / “It’s fine…” / “If your 50…”/ “Eat more apples…eat less bacon…don’t have apple wrapped bacon…” / #applewrappedbacon / #dontworryaboutit / ONE MAN’S FATE / “It was more #eviler …”/ “It was like Fade To Black…”/ “You can’t be a thrash band and do unplugged stuff…”/ “What is Slayer’s ballad? 213? Spill The Blood?” / “Where’s the line?” / “And that’s the way they all talked…”/ #gaffing / “I would vote for you for President…”/ “I’d like to see #DonaldTrump talk like #GordonRamsay …”/ “Oh it’s not, it’s the next one after this…/ “This is the one I’m gonna bang my chick to…” / THE LEGACY (“I never understood the ‘Why?’”) / “In the back of my old Chevy pick-up truck…she needs some A/C…” / #LMAO / #gothim / #thosewerethedays / #killercloser (“Also about China…”) / SEVEN DAYS OF MAY / “If I ever start getting pains…I’ll start naming names…” / “Y’all know some of ‘em…”/ “Oh that’s so worth it…and he’s sober!” / “Remember when you used to get angry…”/ “The Fuck Wagon? The Poon Mobile?” / #allegedly / “I’ve had dreams about that truck…”/ “It only had like 36,000 miles on it when we bought it…” / #pussymobile / “You didn’t have to have a degree from MIT to work on it…”/ “You can almost smell the vagina from here…”/ “Not their finest hour…just not our favorite, that’s all.” / “Everything can’t be awesome, all the time.” / “I wanna go back and have virtual reality memory of you in high school…” / #StrangeDays / “It’s kinda like #TheMatrix …”/ ***THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!!*** / #getashirt and #JOINUS on #Patreon #MetalNerdery / #loveyoumeanit / #outroreel / ***COME PICK UP YOUR METAL NERDERY GEAR AND MERCH AND SHIRTS AND SUCH AT metalnerdery.com/merch!!!*** #laughtrackASMR #outroreel #sobriety