Customer Reviews

Low

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I find myself seething and in the need for something that manifesting these feelings externally, I sometimes find myself tuning into Testament's Low. Why? Because it has the right combinations of metal to make something digestible for the anger-ridden stomach, plus it provides commentary on every portion of society that is, in some right, sacred and therefore questionable. From the manifestations of the family and the building blocks of internal scarification that it sometimes is to the ritualism we deem social responsibility, it all finds itself looked upon and, in some way, frowned at. Personally, this is what I expect from Testament, the driven sounds and the aggressive vocals that sometimes bleed and sometimes growl anger into existence, and is a step back in the right direct that The Ritual - a good listen but not a Testament album - didn't provide.

Of the songs on the album, I find myself fond of "Of Dog Faced Gods" the most, with its growling stylization of vocals meshing well with messages about the Egypt of yore and the thunderous pulse within its temponic heartbeat. It, by far, is the most driven piece on the album and shows a band that has, in some rights, matured over time and learned their craft while not sacrificing the heaviness that sometimes goes with age. I'm also taken by the track, "P.C.," which angrily questions the role of our leaders in a dysfunctional society and encourages the people under those thumbs not to be complacent, and "Legions (In Hiding), which throws lights onto the shadowy role of family and the manifestation of horrors that children oftentimes find themselves barraged by. There is also one slower track with a message that I found sorrowfully enjoyable, with its notations of suffering in "Trail of Tears" and the release that will finally lead to the end of the pain that was suffered by a nation of people.

There are other notables on the album as well, lending themselves to a return to form that I found myself sorely missing. Fans of the older Testament will find pieces here that sing songs of the beast of "once before," and people that enjoyed the growth that the band has shown over the years will find this something worth picking up. Recommended to fans of the heavy genres dancing in the sardonic veins of the sound spectrum.

Testament is one of my favorite bands. Having consistently released quality work throughout their career. And low is no exception never straying to far from their bay area thrash sound but being far from generic sounding. Low is the first cd to feature chuck billy using death metal vocals found on the song dog faced gods. Which would dominate their future demonic release. The high points of the cd are what has made testament so highly respected in metal circles since the 80's. Great guitar work,solos,lyrics,vocals, and drumming. Hail mary is one of my favorite songs possesing great guitar work,vocals and a killer chorus. Trail of tears is one of my favorite songs a slower number great guitar and vocals keep interest throughout. P.C.,chsing fear,low,legions in hiding are other highlights keeping the thrash quotient high. The only low points would be the song ride as it has a mediocre riff and goes nowhere. And the instrumentals just take up space. Overall low is another great release by a band sticking proudly to their bay area thrash roots.

this was the first cd with unoriginal menbers james murphy and john tempesta?at first thought I was unsure but after listening this is brutally heavy.this made many people reconsider 80 thrash bands the set forth new standards in that realm of music. james has alway chosen to work with the cream of the crop(obituary,death,teastamen ect.)but this was put him in a hard spot replacing alex sckolnick(guitar god)but james stomped on alex's place out.James to thing to a higher level and could do anything alex did before ( you want proof live at the filmore listen to it)john tempesta (replaced louie )with surprisingly great referances(anthrax tech,exodus,slayer temp. then to white zombie)and did a great job better than I thought he would do but left just after recording to be replaced by paul bostiph(formerly of forbidden/next move slayer 13 years+)with chuck,Eric,greg still there these two new guy with the 10 years in the sceane produced one of the memorible cds of the era and broke major new ground with this cd.this is a must have!

not to often does a band get better as time goes on,but that`s what you get with low.10 or so years after their prime, testament has given to the world a great gift,to me this is the best testament cd,with props to earlier efforts,the new order and practice what you preach,low surpasses these other classic testament cd`s.crushing guitar,pounding drums,and chuck billy`s growls come together to make metal magic,(black magic)get this,you won`t regret it if you like heavy music

I've been aware of Testament since their very beginning and I'm agree with almost everyone that their three (or perhaps four?) first releases are all classics. Also, no doubt about the skills of Alex Scholnick, who arguably was (IS, after the recent reunion) the main attraction of this band. However, in spite of all that, I have terribly felt in love with "Low" and now it is my preferred Testament album. But... why?

Well, perhaps the first thing to notice is the sharp production. Killer sound, you find no better in the Testament's catalogue! Other element would be the downtuned guitars. They give a darker feeling to their music. The death metal influences integrate well with the proggish edge Testament always had, and still the final product sounds coherent and very solid from the songwriting point of view. Additionally, Chuck Billy shows some new vocal influences, which is far from being disappointing. In fact, the more divergent from the Bay Area archetypical voice his vocals are, the more I like him!

Some words now dedicated to the amazing shredder James Murphy is. I must confess that he was almost unknown to me when I picked this album up. I must say now: for those of you who are worrying about the absence of Alex Scholnick (like I was too), I can safely tell you that James Murphy is an axeman of the same calibre. "Low" is a safe buy for sure, but an even safer one if all you want is a shredding guitar fest. His work on the superb ballad "Trail Of Tears" is of the finest around, but every guitar riff and solo on this album finds the perfect balance between taste, spontaneity and technicality -- that's guaranteed! I dare to say: even if you loved Scholnick I don't think you'll miss him here!

So, this album has changed it all for me. Before "Low" I thought Annihilator had produced the two most magical thrash masterpieces ever ("Alison Hell" and "Never Neverland"), but now "Low" has also entered in my own temple of sacred metal records. "Low" maybe is slightly less progressive, but it has a lot of "charm" -- that weird impalpable thing emanating from true works of art! In few words, if you are looking for a greatly-produced, written and performed thrash metal opus with all the heavy ingredients you wanted, from growling vocals to a true blast of GREAT guitar riffs, solos and power drumming, search no more: this is it! FIVE freakin' BIG stars!

This is one of Testament's best albums, if not the best. In many ways, it is their comeback album. Testament's most mediocre effort was SOULS OF BLACK, which did have some good songs on it, but SOULS was a disappointment to many fans, who felt the album sounded rushed. (Expectations were high after the release of Practice What You Preach.) THE RITUAL was their progressive album. However, LOW should have been the one to come after PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH, instead of SOULS OF BLACK.

I like this album a lot and listening to it recently, I find it still has a wonderful sound. The guitars are EXTREMELY heavy, the drums are loud, the bass is clear, and the vocals are brutal. This album sounds very crisp, too, even though all of the instruments are played with utter intensity. It has great production quality.

If you are a Testament fan, you need this album. I always thought Chuck Billy did the best death metal roar when Testament was only using that for effect in the old days. Here, it's used more often, but there's a nice balance between it and Chuck's normal style.

This is heavy thrash at its best and not that nu-metal nonsense that is so common nowadays. Buy this album if you like Testament. If you only like PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH, then you are not a true Testament fan, even though PRACTICE is a great album. I think LOW is much heavier, and a much better effort on Testament's part.

"Low" showcases Testatment in peak form. The precision metal assault for which the band was known is in place as always. Songs like the opening title track and "All I Could Bleed" boast killer, forceful melodies, led by Chuck Billy's traditional howling vocals. The musicianship is razor-sharp, befitting a lineup with James Murphy and Eric Peterson on guitars. The riffs are tight, the solos shine, and the bass and drums thump precisely in the background. Ultimately, though, it's the album's diversity that raises it into the elite. I don't care much for ballads, but "Trail of Tears" is a terrific tune, with excellent playing and some mournful vocals about the problems faced by American Indians. On some songs, most notably "Dog Faced Gods," Chuck introduced low, death-metalesque timbres into his vocals, foreshadowing the band's future direction. Chuck doesn't have the best death metal voice out there, but it's good enough, and it's nice to have some variety injected into the mix. An outstanding album, like all Testament albums that I've heard.

Let me start off by saying that, on the whole, Testament is probably one of the best thrash bands ever to pick up their instruments and this is one of their best albums. It's not really death metal but it has more staying power than The Ritual. It's kinda hard to describe it but the songs on this one drive more, a lot like the songs off Legacy and New Order and the drumming, courtesy of John Tempesta rocks (check out his performance on First Strike Still Deadly for more). The rest of the band are excellent as well. Chuck has that throat growl but you can still understand the lyrics, which is good, and James Murphy proves he can play a very competent lead guitar (I miss Alex though). Greg is also still pounding away on the bass as hard as ever. The songs, as I said before, drive as well, which is a good thing thanks to Tempesta laying that foundation. The standouts are of course Low, Dog Faced Gods (cool vocal effects) and my personal favorite, Hail Mary. The ballad is pretty good, too, as Testament are one of the better bands at writing them. None of them are cheesy. Overall this is a great album that sounds modern with the right amount of old school Testament mixed in, a must for fans both old and new.

this cd was a test in many ways to see if they could still crush with out alex on guitar and the loss of louie clemete on drums and the verdict was yes but the drums are less than impressive john tepesta is a very fortunate drummer(anthrax tech,exodus,testament,white zombie and even a slayer temp/fill spot )john good and lucky but not great,I would have rather seen a more experienced drummer do this cd paul bostoph!as for the guitars JAMES MURPHy kills on guitar the man is great covering old testsment classics see live at the filmore and adds new crushing guitar toneS to this and takes them back to their roots.proof is that testament is reborn to thrash hard,-check out the gathering for more of murphy's guitar work

I had grown up listening to all of the old Testament material, up through "Practice What You Preach" and "Souls Of Black", but had pretty much fallen out of touch with this band (which I always considered the most talented and intelligent of the Bay-area thrash bands), so this album was a surprise to me, and is quickly becoming one of my current favorites...

This was the first album without guitarist Alex Skolnick and the first to feature James Murphy of Death fame, and it is certainly the heaviest album attempted by this band up until this point. This album also saw Testament begin to experiment with a near death-metal vocal style, which actually works rather well with the new, heavier, more intense material. My concerns about Skolnick's departure were ill-founded; guitarists Murphy and Peterson shred all over this disc; some of the solo-trade-offs on this album are just unreal. Very, very cool style combining elements of death, thrash, and even a bit of prog-metal with some great guitar playing and some surprising twists and turns, which add an unexpected element at times (track 9, "Urutsukidoji", is a sort of instrumental fusion-metal tribute to the bizarre Japanese hentai anime of the same name; and even features foreign-language clips from the series...just plain weird)....this is much better than 90 percent of the newer metal bands out these days. Check it out!