Testament Low: A Heavy Album That Is Really Good and an Influential Thrash Metal Release

1. Low
2. Legions (In Hiding)
3. Hail Mary
4. Trail of Tears
5. Shades of War
6. P.C.
7. Dog Faced Gods
8. All I Could Bleed
9. Urotsukidoji (instrumental)
10. Chasing Fear
11. Ride
12. Last Call (instrumental)

Testament’s 6^th studio album "Low" released is a really good album but be prepared to hear something VERY different. It is a really heavy album that will probably send shock waves through your body because you may start wondering what the heck is going on. The major change for this album in comparison the band’s first five albums is that the vocals are more guttural and heavier. No Chuck Billy does not sound like a dog that barks but he stretches out his voice, making it brutal and pretty easy to understand at the same time which brings up the album’s overall score. Also playing on this album is guitarist James Murphy and drummer John Tempesta. The album is also a very influential album because it addresses various issues that have been bad for the image of the United States over the nation’s history. People have to know what has happened in the past so that they can know why certain events are happening today. Low is the title track and the first song which makes a very good point lyrically: innocent people do suffer losses a lot of times and they may feel powerless to change things. My hope is that this album review will be more than just an album review. Look at the review as a way to know that we can change things because the United States has gone through much change as a country. But let’s get back to reviewing the album Low.

Low was released in 1994, the last real year of popularity for the show called Headbangers Boll. Once again, we have another power ballad in this album and this one is called Trail of Tears. The song is about the displacement and destruction of the Native Americans. These Indians have had a lot of pride, not giving in to the aggression from those that were colonizing this country. Families are willing to travel long distances whether they have to travel through snow or desert sand in order to get to what they deem to be the “promised land.” Low was a very memorable album for me because I would be thinking about the songs in the album while being in my high school English class at the time. Dog Faced Gods has some pretty freaking heavy guitar work, pounding drums, and a different lower guttural growl this time by Chuck Billy. This man can really growl, sing, and make it interesting.

Among other albums released in 1994, Low is by far the best one that was released that year. Why is this? Because it has all the qualities that make for an enjoyable listen while also being a metal album. Besides the great, rough guttural vocals that I already mentioned, most of the songs are worth listening to from beginning to end. One exception may be the song called Shades of War. Urotskidoji is one of two instrumentals in this album that has a lot of bass guitar in it and sometimes it is fast as heck too. The drumming is pretty good too though John Tempesta cannot really replace the technicality and talent of Louie Clemente. This first instrumental has a sort of Middle Eastern influence in it as well. The amazing song Chasing Fear has always been one of my favorites as well. Once again, we hear a sort of Middle Eastern sound here and Chuck grunts the word fear. And then you know that these guys mean business with their heaviness. The song is about someone who thinks they are chasing fear, yet it is the emotion of fear is chasing them. The person’s mind is scared and confused at the same time as he has no idea of what to do. The person loses control of their body and their willpower slowly withers away. Ride is a really fast song that describes Jesus of Nazareth in a humorous kind of way.

Another reason that the album Low is superior to other metal albums released in 1994 is for the song P.C. This is not just a song; it is a very influential song and it describes the corruption in the US government as our politicians are bought out by the corporations and often have to do their bidding. It is often the average person that pays the price just for living here. We must take back all that we have lost at whatever cost as Chuck Billy sings. The US fought a war to free itself from the control of the British and we must be able to properly exercise that freedom. The last verse is one of the best in any song as Chuck says:

“And what about the CIA?

What the f*** is their real job anyway?

Starting Civil Wars in third world countries, exporting heroin to the Far East,” (Testament 1994).

This last verse is very influential because it is a very accurate description of what our CIA does as they are responsible for covert operations and coup attempts as they did in Iran in 1953. The band does a great job for writing this song because we have to inform the world that these abuses of power are unacceptable and we must have a country that benefits the average person and not just the 1% as you hear Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren talk about so much.

Low is one of the best metal albums of 1994 and it can still be considered influential even in 2018 as so much has changed in the United States. This is a groundbreaking, exceptional metal album that is sure to still please the younger fans of today. Testament are one of the best heavy metal bands to ever come from the state of California even though did not really make it as big as Metallica. With Low, Testament shows that they can get the job done musically even with the power ballad called Trail of Tears. The strongest songs in Low are many including the songs Chasing Fear and Ride. Is Low the band's finest moment? No, but they came close to topping that!

Testament. 1994. P.C. Comp. Greg Christian and Eric Peterson.