Testimony of the Ancients | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 6, 1991 | |||
Recorded | March–April 1991 in Tampa, Florida (USA) | |||
Genre | Progressive death metal [1] | |||
Length | 42:56 | |||
Label | Roadrunner | |||
Producer | Scott Burns | |||
Pestilence chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Metal Storm | 7.5/10 [3] |
Testimony of the Ancients is the third album by the Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1991 on Roadrunner Records. This was their first release with a new lineup, with Tony Choy replacing Martin van Drunen on bass, while guitarist Patrick Mameli filled in for the latter on vocals.
Following the departure of former bassist/vocalist Martin van Drunen, guitarist Patrick Mameli took over vocal duties. Mameli steered the band towards a more melodic and technical approach, expanding on the death metal sound of its predecessor Consuming Impulse . The resulting concept album, Testimony of the Ancients contrasted brutal death metal riffs with melodic interludes and tackled what John Serba describes as, "strangely philosophical, and oddly compelling, subject matter". After each song on the album, there was an instrumental outro track. This attempt to push the boundaries of death metal, at a time when the scene was saturated with copycat "one track minded" bands, mirrored the efforts of fellow progressive bands Atheist and Death who released Unquestionable Presence and Human respectively in 1991, the same year as Testimony. The album can also be seen as a stepping stone on the way to the following Pestilence album Spheres , which departed still further from traditional death metal and headed towards jazz fusion.
Testimony of the Ancients was reissued, along with Consuming Impulse , on Roadrunner Records' Two from the Vault series.
All lyrics are written by Marco Foddis; all music is composed by Patrick Mameli except where noted
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Secrecies of Horror" | Patrick Mameli, Patrick Uterwijk | 4:56 |
2. | "Bitterness" (instrumental) | Mameli, Uterwijk | 0:30 |
3. | "Twisted Truth" | Mameli, Uterwijk | 4:02 |
4. | "Darkening" (instrumental) | 0:30 | |
5. | "Lost Souls" | 3:40 | |
6. | "Blood" (instrumental) | 0:28 | |
7. | "Land of Tears" | 4:47 | |
8. | "Free Us from Temptation" (instrumental) | 0:31 | |
9. | "Prophetic Revelations" | 5:21 | |
10. | "Impure" (instrumental) | 0:59 | |
11. | "Testimony" | 3:51 | |
12. | "Soulless" (instrumental) | Tony Choy | 0:32 |
13. | "Presence of the Dead" | 5:50 | |
14. | "MindWarp" (instrumental) | 0:25 | |
15. | "Stigmatized" | Mameli, Uterwijk | 5:23 |
16. | "In Sorrow" (instrumental) | 1:11 | |
Total length: | 42:56 |
Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1982 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band founded in Enschede in 1986. They have been through various membership changes throughout their existence, with guitarist-vocalist Patrick Mameli as the sole constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released ten studio albums, and they are one of "progressive death metal's Big Four", along with Death, Atheist, and Cynic.
Martin van Drunen is a Dutch death metal vocalist who started out in the band Pestilence. In this band, he also performed the bass duties live. He recorded two albums with them, Malleus Maleficarum and Consuming Impulse. After his departure from Pestilence, van Drunen joined Asphyx as the singer and bass player in 1990 and recorded six studio albums in total. He performed the vocals on Comecon's second album Converging Conspiracies in 1993 and then formed his own band called Submission. In 1995, he was asked to replace Karl Willetts in the UK death metal band Bolt Thrower. He did two tours with them, but never recorded an album.
Tony Choy is a Cuban-American electric bassist. He was a session musician for some well-known technical death metal bands such as Atheist, Cynic and the Dutch band Pestilence. He is known for his use of the Slap & Pop playing technique, along with two-handed tapping.
Technical death metal is a musical subgenre of death metal with particular focus on instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Technical and progressive experimentation in death metal began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, largely driven by four bands that, according to Allmusic, are "technical death metal's Big Four" – Death, Pestilence, Atheist, and Cynic. All but Pestilence are part of the Florida death metal scene, to which Nocturnus, another influential band, also belongs.
Asphyx is a Dutch death metal band formed in Oldenzaal, Overijssel in 1987 by Bob Bagchus and Tony Brookhuis. Since 2014, no original members are still in the band. Vocalist Martin van Drunen is the only current and long-term member that appeared on their debut album.
Effigy of the Forgotten is the debut full-length album by New York–based death metal band Suffocation, released in 1991. The album features several tracks that are re-recorded versions of tracks that appeared on the band's Reincremation demo and Human Waste EP. The cover artwork was created by Dan Seagrave.
Malleus Maleficarum is the debut studio album by the Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1988. Although the sound of this album is technically death metal, its direction is notably different from the band's subsequent work, leaning more towards the thrash metal genre with punk influences, known as crossover thrash. This is the only Pestilence album to include guitarist Randy Meinhard, who was replaced by Patrick Uterwijk prior to the making of their next album Consuming Impulse (1989).
Consuming Impulse is the second album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1989. While retaining some of the thrash metal elements from its predecessor Malleus Maleficarum (1988), Consuming Impulse saw the band progress further towards the traditional death metal genre with progressive influences; this can be seen as one of the earliest examples of technical death metal, a subgenre that would be used and expanded on Pestilence's subsequent albums. Consuming Impulse was also their first release with then-new guitarist Patrick Uterwijk, and their last one to feature bassist and vocalist Martin van Drunen.
Spheres is the fourth album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1993. It was their final album before a 14-year hiatus from 1994 to 2008. On this album, the band experimented with a more progressive sound, utilizing guitar synthesizers as well as some jazz influences.
Creepmime were a Dutch death metal band active from 1991 to 1997, and recorded two full-length albums, both on Mascot Records.
Jason Göbel is an American guitarist, best known for being a member of the progressive metal band Cynic during their original run.
Cynic is an American progressive metal band formed in Miami, Florida in 1987. The band has been primarily based in California since the late 1990s, marking a significant shift in their geographic and creative roots. Paul Masvidal originally served solely as the band's guitarist, but later took over as lead vocalist and chief songwriter. Cynic incorporates elements of progressive rock, alternative, and metal.
Resurrection Macabre is the fifth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, which was released on 16 March 2009. It is the band's first album of original material in 16 years, since 1993's Spheres and this fact is referenced in the album's title; hence resurrection. Re-recordings of earlier Pestilence songs make appearances as bonus tracks on the record.
Secrets is the sixth studio album by guitarist Allan Holdsworth, released on 6 November 1989 through Intima Records; a remastered edition was reissued in 2008 through Eidolon Efformation. The album features drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, rather than regular collaborator Chad Wackerman; Wackerman did, however, write and perform drums on the song "Peril Premonition".
Patrizio Marco Giovanni "Patrick" Mameli is a Dutch musician who is the founder, lead singer, guitarist and only original remaining member of the technical death metal band Pestilence, which he formed in 1986. Mameli remains the creative force behind Pestilence, as well as the primary songwriter.
Doctrine is the sixth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, which was released on April 24, 2011. The album was recorded and mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor "V.Santura" Bullok. The artwork was designed by Marko Saarelainen. The album represents a second release by the reformed Pestilence, with two new members: Yuma van Eekelen and Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who was a member of the band during the Spheres era. Technically, the album is an experimentation with very low tunings, with Mameli and Uterwijk playing on 8-string guitars with standard tuning, and Thesseling playing a 7-string fretless bass tuned in F#.
Obsideo is the seventh studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released on October 21, 2013 via Candlelight Records. The album was produced by the vocalist/guitarist Patrick Mameli, and their last before their two-year hiatus from 2014 to 2016. According to Mameli, the album's overall lyrical theme is "the journey of the human soul." This is the final Pestilence album to feature lead and rhythm guitarist Patrick Uterwijk, who had been with the band since Consuming Impulse in 1989.
Hadeon is the eighth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released digitally on 26 January 2018, nearly two months ahead of its scheduled release date; a physical component of the album was released on 9 March 2018. Hadeon is the band's first album since their two-year hiatus from 2014 to 2016, and the first one since Malleus Maleficarum (1988) not to feature longtime lead and rhythm guitarist Patrick Uterwijk.
Exitivm is the ninth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released on 25 June 2021, after having been signed to Agonia Records. Because Septimiu Hărşan had to leave the band due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he was replaced by Michiel van der Plicht who has since become a full-time member. It is also the band's first album with bassist Joost van der Graaf and guitarist Rutger van Noordenburg.