Testimony Of Apocalypse – “Heretic And The Adversary” / “The Rescue”
Testimony Of Apocalypse – “Heretic And The Adversary” / “The Rescue” – Singles Review
“Brutal and high energy metal with elements of thrash, groove, and death which come together to form an extremely original and progressive sound.” Well said! I’d have added the occasional capital letter in there for the titles of the genres & such, but semantics ain’t no big deal…I agree with their assessment.
All-in-all, this is pretty darn good! If you’re a fan of the hard stuff, chances are you’re going to dig what Testimony Of Apocalypse creates. While it’s essential a band that was built on the core strengths of two players – Paul Graham on Drums, and Nick Pacitti on Guitar/Keys – they’ve officially brought a third member into the fold with Derek Corzine on Bass/Vocals, and they’ve added in stellar talent around them to create an even more enormous sound overall through session players and whatnot to fill in any other potential gaps. We’ve got a two-song sample from their latest record called The Offering in the mix here today, which includes “Heretic And The Adversary” & “The Rescue.” Make no mistake, these dudes can play and they’ve already garnered high praise in the past with Album Of The Year awards and such for the efforts put into their previous album None Escape The Judgement. As for whether or not you’re expecting such an extraordinarily savage sound to be faith-based music, that’s probably where the main surprise will be for many folks out there tuning in to check out what TOA creates. I’ll admit, even though I know Christian Metal is a thing & have encountered it more than a few times throughout my years in music journalism, it’s still a genre that tends to surprise me through its extreme contrast. We tend to associate the Bible and God with love and all that good stuff…but many of us outside of religion tend to forget there’s a whole level of brutality involved in The Old Testament and such too.
Anyhow. I never worry about faith-based music being beyond something I’d personally want to listen to because it truly does come in all forms, and Testimony Of Apocalypse is authentic proof of that. I’m just here for the music, man…and I believe this would qualify. Right from the drop, this Philadelphia-based band starts swinging hard for the fence with a punishing sound on “Heretic And The Adversary” that’ll audibly make a great substitute for a whole pot of coffee and blast you awake if you’re just rolling out of bed like I was the first time I listened to it. Seriously though – this is unmistakably great stuff – you can hear from the way this track is put together with such care, detail, and professional musicianship, that if you were to even just judge a track like this from its structure alone you’d have to give it full marks. Nick has got excellent ideas on guitar to form the heavy rhythmic base of these tracks & they get a genuinely solid assist from Cameron Nealey as the featured guest for the more intricate and involved lead parts. Vocalist Darren Johnson…I mean…yeah – that’s the term right? When someone is growling and snarling at ya, we don’t call them singers, do we? Frontman? Snarler? Microphone Behemoth? Alright – I’m sure you get the idea – and to be fair, there IS singing involved in “Heretic And The Adversary” around its mid-point. That was a huge highlight in this song for me personally…I don’t mind the growlin’ and whatnot, but admittedly it’s never really been my thing either – regardless of my opinion that, Johnson does what he does really well and shows quite an impressive range. I really like the singing in this track and would definitely argue that moment probably makes for the most universally accessible part of this particular tune, but I’m also a big fan of the way he whispers his vocals as well, or the sheer magnitude of his roar at this single’s most intense moments. Lyrically, it is what it is in a sense…I’m not gonna be the guy to say this will swing a heathen like myself into finding religion, but again, to be fair to TOA, I don’t feel like that’s the mission they’re on either. It is heavily influenced by the scripture type stuff, let’s put it that way…and the more devout you are in that regard, I’m sure the more you’ll find you are able to get out of what Testimony Of Apocalypse creates. Sound-wise, these guys are monstrously epic – you’d have to put them in that same category of enormity that you’d find in Meshuggah or Mastodon and the like…a track like “Heretic And The Adversary” could easily strip the paint right off of the walls around you, and they play this cut with enough electricity to power your tiny village through the winter.
Of the two, I’m probably more partial to “Heretic And The Adversary,” but make no mistake, they’re collectively crushing it just as hard on “The Rescue” as well. You’ve got Juan Marrero on the vocals this time around, who at first is probably a little indistinguishable from Johnson for most listeners, but he’ll go on to reveal a bit more of a Thrash-based sound in his vibe later on down the road. Are these leads the same dudes responsible for the singing we hear in each tune as well? I’ll admit, it’s possible, but it does seem like a bit of a stretch as well. In any event, perhaps it’s personal taste or just the stone-cold reality of the situation, but each track’s moments where there is more singing than growling tends to reveal the hooks we’ll probably remember the most from the mic. I dig the raw power and fury that Marrero brings to the verses of “The Rescue” though…don’t get it twisted. Listening to those moments where they chop it up through the music and vocals as one unified entity…it makes a serious impact on us as we listen. They move together like a force to be reckoned with, and you really can’t help but give a full salute to how entertaining & engaging the music of Testimony Of Apocalypse is. Graham deserves an award for the massive effort he puts into the beating of his drum skins…or at the very least, a bottle of freakin’ water so the guy can refuel after performances like these. Nealey puts wild solos into each of these songs as well, and together with Pacitti’s guitar, they deliver fierce professionalism that can’t be ignored. “The Rescue” has moments that’ll drift more towards that Thrash/Noise-Rock vibe…and even though I still feel a bit more inclined to dig “Heretic And The Adversary” of these two cuts for all of its Progressive twists and turns…this second track in review here is pretty damn potent as well y’all. So…I guess while I’d say that thematically, and sound-wise, I’m still coming from a whole different side of the planet than any of these dudes for what I’d normally listen to, I’ve always maintained that good music is exactly that – good music. Doesn’t matter what you play, it’s how you play it that gets people like me that are on the fringe to come on in to sit down and listen, you feel me? Testimony Of Apocalypse seriously earns your ear-time through wildly passionate and highly skilled musicianship, in addition to their uncanny ability to create material that’s truly gripping – I’d listen to more from these guys for sure.
Find out more about Testimony Of Apocalypse from the official pages below!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TestimonyOfApocalypse
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/testimonyofapocalypse
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TestimonyOfApocalypse
Merch Link to TOA Store: https://linktr.ee/testimonyofapocalypse/store
Magical Multi-link to all-things-TOA: https://linktr.ee/testimonyofapocalypse
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