Souls of Black
| Souls of Black | ||||
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| Testament studio album | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Megaforce Records , Atlantic Records | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
39:17 |
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Studio (s) |
Fantasy Studio, Berkeley , California |
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Souls of Black ( German "Black Souls" ) is the fourth studio album by the American thrash metal band Testament . It was released on Megaforce Records in October 1990 . The album was sometimes more melodic than its predecessor. It was received controversially by the reviewers. With The Legacy it contained a ballad that was originally created at the time of the album of the same name .
History of origin
After touring in early 1990, Testament went into the studio to record Souls of Black . Due to the tight tour schedule, the record was written in just four weeks and recorded within six weeks. This time Michael Rosen , who was already working as an assistant at Practice What You Preach , was the producer. Shortly before the release, which was originally announced for mid-September 1990, but then took place at the beginning of October - on the same day as Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss - Testament could participate in the European part of the Clash-of-the-Titans tour with Slayer, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies occur. Testament and Megadeth also got the chance to jump on Judas Priest's Painkiller US tour. On October 1, 1990, the accompanying music video of the title track, filmed with director Mark Rezyka, was released. A video was also shot for The Legacy . Although Souls of Black was able to place itself in the charts in some countries, the record remained commercially below expectations overall. In 1993, Chuck Billy said he would "like to undo" the "release". The recordings had taken place "much too hastily" because the record company had pushed for a new album for the Clash of the Titans tour. He really doesn't like the album "today."
reception
When rating Souls of Black , the opinions of the reviewers differ. Michael Rensen wrote in Rock Hard at the time that the album was “in murky waters”, that the album was too “uniform”, that a “feeling hit” like The Ballad was missing . Rensen awarded 6.5 out of ten points. In contrast, for Andrea Nieradzik in Metal Hammer, the ballad The Legacy was “a little high-flyer when it comes to slow and soulful songs”. She described Testament's attempt to "harmonize hardness, power, musicality and melody" as "successful" and gave the record six out of seven possible points.
This spectrum of opinion also exists among later observers. Allmusic's Alex Henderson saw Souls of Black as not of the same class as The New Order , but still as a "welcome addition to Testament's generally worthwhile catalog". The album was rated here with two and a half stars out of five. Nevertheless, there are also critics who describe the album as “the best album of the band” and “one of the most important albums in Thrash Metal”.
Track list
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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- Beginning of the End - 0:36 (Intro, Music: Peterson)
- Face in the Sky - 3:53 (Music: Peterson, Skolnick. Text: Billy)
- Falling Fast - 4:05 (Music: Peterson, Clemente. Text: Billy)
- Souls of Black - 3:22 (Music: Peterson, Skolnick, Clemente. Text: Billy)
- Absence of Light - 3:55 (Music: Peterson, Billy. Text: Billy, Skolnick)
- Love to Hate - 3:40 (Music: Peterson, Skolnick. Text: Peterson, Clemente & Billy)
- Malpractice - 4:43 (Music: Skolnick, Peterson. Text: Skolnick, Billy)
- One Man's Fate - 4:49 (Music: Peterson, Clemente. Text: Billy)
- The Legacy - 5:30 (Music: Peterson, Clemente, Skolnick. Text: Skolnick, Billy, Peterson)
- Seven Days of May - 4:41 (Music: Peterson, Skolnick. Text: Skolnick, Billy)
All vocal melodies are from Chuck Billy. All the songs were arranged by Testament.
Seen Between the Lines
In 1991, a VHS video that u. a. Contained live recordings, published under the title Seen Between the Lines . It received the cover artwork of Souls of Black designed by William Benson . In 2005 it was re-released as a remastered DVD. Nevertheless, the picture and sound quality was criticized.
Re-use
A revised version of the song Souls of Black is included in the video game Rock Band 2.
Web links
- Souls of Black on Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b www.rockhard.de: Review Souls of Black by Michael Rensen
- ^ A b Andrea Nieradzik: Review Souls of Black , in: Metal Hammer, No. 21/22, 1990, p. 63.
- ^ A b Frank Trojan: The Zero Hour , in: Rock Hard, No. 73, June 1993, p. 94
- ↑ a b www.allmusic.com: Band biography testament of Eduardo Rivadavia
- ↑ www.imdb.de: Souls of Black
- ↑ www.allmusic.com: Souls of Black review by Alex Henderson
- ↑ www.tartareandesire.com: Souls of Black review by Vincent Eldefors
- ↑ Sources chart positions (album): UK US
- ↑ www.laut.de: Review Seen Between the Lines by Michael Edele