Testimony of the Ancients

{{Infobox album

| name = Testimony of the Ancients

| type = studio

| artist = Pestilence

| cover = Testimony_Of_The_Ancients.jpg

| alt =

| released = September 6, 1991

| recorded = March–April 1991 in Tampa, Florida (USA)

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Progressive death metal{{Cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/bands/album.php?album_id=2776|title=Pestilence - Testimony Of The Ancients|publisher=Metal Storm|accessdate=27 February 2024}}

| length = 42:56

| label = Roadrunner

| producer = Scott Burns

| prev_title = Consuming Impulse

| prev_year = 1989

| next_title = Spheres

| next_year = 1993

}}

{{Album reviews

|rev1=Allmusic

|rev1score={{Rating|4|5}}Serba, John. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r15112|pure_url=yes}} Testimony of the Ancients review] allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-17.

|rev2=Metal Storm

|rev2score=7.5/10{{Cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=672|title=Pestilence - Testimony Of The Ancients review|publisher=Metal Storm|date=15 September 2004|accessdate=27 February 2024}}

}}

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.

Testimony of the Ancients was reissued, along with Consuming Impulse, on Roadrunner Records' Two from the Vault series.

Style

According to Ultimate Guitar senior editor David Slavković, the album is "one of the first examples of experimentation in [death metal]," incorporating progressive elements and "slowly drifting away towards jazz fusion".{{Cite web |last=Street-Jammer |first=Richard |title=Pestilence's "Testimony Of The Ancients" Turns 25 |url=https://www.invisibleoranges.com/pestilences-testimony-of-the-ancients-turns-25/ |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog |language=en-US}} Each song on the album is followed by an instrumental outro track, which was an attempt by the band to "push [the genre's] boundaries." These brief interludes incorporate unorthodox timbres for death metal, such as acoustic guitar, samples of orchestral arrangements, and pianos.{{Cite web |title=Friday Top: 25 Best Death Metal Albums of All Time |url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/friday_top_25_best_death_metal_albums_of_all_time-102419 |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=www.ultimate-guitar.com |language=en}}

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. In addition to death metal, jazz fusion and progressive elements present, the album also contains thrash metal riffs and "doomy" elements. The album's lyrics explored topics that John Serba of AllMusic described as "strangely philosophical". He explained that the album's themes were "Harmony [verus] chaos, melody [versus] brutality, the concept of eternity [versus] the limitations of a man's mind."{{Citation |title=Testimony of the Ancients - Pestilence {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/testimony-of-the-ancients-mw0000083641 |access-date=2024-12-30 |language=en}} The album's guitar solos have been described as "melodic, jazz inflected, soaring, and emotive."{{Cite web |last=Street-Jammer |first=Richard |title=Pestilence's "Testimony Of The Ancients" Turns 25 |url=https://www.invisibleoranges.com/pestilences-testimony-of-the-ancients-turns-25/ |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog |language=en-US}}

Track listing

{{tracklist

|all_lyrics=Marco Foddis

|all_music=Patrick Mameli except where noted

|total_length=42:56

|title1=The Secrecies of Horror

|length1=4:56

|music1=Patrick Mameli, Patrick Uterwijk

|title2=Bitterness

|length2=0:30

|note2=instrumental

|music2=Mameli, Uterwijk

|title3=Twisted Truth

|length3=4:02

|music3=Mameli, Uterwijk

|title4=Darkening

|length4=0:30

|note4=instrumental

|title5=Lost Souls

|length5=3:40

|title6=Blood

|length6=0:28

|note6=instrumental

|title7=Land of Tears

|length7=4:47

|title8=Free Us from Temptation

|length8=0:31

|note8=instrumental

|title9=Prophetic Revelations

|length9=5:21

|title10=Impure

|length10=0:59

|note10=instrumental

|title11=Testimony

|length11=3:51

|title12=Soulless

|length12=0:32

|note12=instrumental

|music12=Tony Choy

|title13=Presence of the Dead

|length13=5:50

|title14=MindWarp

|length14=0:25

|note14=instrumental

|title15=Stigmatized

|length15=5:23

|music15=Mameli, Uterwijk

|title16=In Sorrow

|length16=1:11

|note16=instrumental

}}

Personnel

;Pestilence

Patrick Mameli - guitar, vocals
Patrick Uterwijk - guitar
Tony Choy - bass
Marco Foddis - drums

;Additional musicians

Kent Smith - keyboards

Production

Arranged By Pestilence
Produced By Pestilence & Scott Burns
Recorded, Engineered & Mixed By Scott Burns
Mastered By Eddy Schreyer
Cover art By Dan Seagrave

References

External links

[http://www.discogs.com/Pestilence-Testimony-Of-The-Ancients/release/490920 "Testimony Of The Ancients" at discogs]

Category:Pestilence (band) albums

Category:1991 albums

Category:Albums with cover art by Dan Seagrave

Category:Roadrunner Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Scott Burns (record producer)