PESTILENCE - Testimony of the Ancients

When metalfan.ro was launched, my first thought was that I’m going to have the opportunity and the great pleasure to “speak to the world” about albums that are so close to my heart that they’re practically parts of my being.

If tomorrow all music would disappear off the face of the Earth and I could only keep 5 CDs to leave them as proof of human existence, Testimony of the Ancients would certainly one of them.

From the first note to the last, the Dutchmen’s album is completely different from anything that had been done and, perhaps not by chance, anything that would be done in the future. It is clearly a product that appeared before its time, a projection of what death metal should have been after some years.

The brutality and ferocity that should be the defining part of any self-respecting death metal opus take new life in the masterful hands of Pestilence, excellently camouflaged under progressive influences of frightening complexity and melody, and the final result is amazing and shocking even now, 10 years from its release.

Also interesting are the implications of this amalgam that rose from the melting pot of tormented and possessed alchemists, since Pestilence and a few more bands (Nocturnus, Cynic, Atheist, Messiah or Believer are the best examples) were the ones that broke the mould on a genre that was seen by many as condemned to be limited and monotonous, while exposing it to becoming anonymous by going in directions that managed to mystify even the most faithful fans.

Going beyond this “historical” approach and looking at Testimony of the Ancients from a strictly musical standpoint, we have a product that transcends all the genres barriers, so, while aggression and brutality are not neglected, they take a particular dimension by being combined with elements from other areas of music (intros, interludes, keyboard parts, clean vocals, melodic solos).

I hope I’m not too far from the truth when I say that this is the first true progressive death metal opus, a seminal album that would rip death metal out of its dangerous predictability and throw it into the maximum risk zone, both for fans and musicians, that of disappearance.

I would like to end this review with words from a dear friend (Happy Birthday, Beast!!!): After Testimony, nothing was the same anymore in death metal!

Sake Nota: 10