On its thirteenth full length effort, Bay Area thrash metal quintet Testament mixes vibrant classic thrash metal tracks with some more adventurous and experimental tunes which makes for a balanced, dynamic and entertaining mixture.

Among the first category, the desperate, dystopian and fast ''WWIII'' is likely to be tearing heads off in concert but also offers some truly inspired lyrics. ''Curse of Osiris'' is even more relentless with thunderous rhythm section, chaotic riffs and some fierce black metal vocals that blend in perfectly in what might be one of the most brutal tunes in the band's respectable career.

Concerning the more experimental and adventurous songwriting, ''City of Angels'' stands out immediately with domineering bass guitar play, distorted guitar sounds and vocals meandering playfully between calm passages and emotional outbursts. The song's numerous changes and shifts approach almost progressive metal territory and make for the release's most complex and interesting tune. ''Ishtar's Gate'' once again lets vibrant bass guitars shine while the guitar harmonies indeed occasionally evoke Middle Eastern melodies without ever straying too much away from the song's stomping thrash metal basis. ''Code of Hammurabi'' yet again stands out with an excellent bass guitar overture accompanied by some complex guitar riffs before the complex tune gets simpler and straighter as it evolves into a liberating thrash metal song.

Testament's Titans of Creation grows with every single spin and keeps a nearly flawless balance between straightforward thrash metal tunes and more playful tracks with very technical instrumentation and progressive songwriting aspects. Especially the bass guitar play stands out very positively on this highly entertaining output without any fillers. Even though a few tunes in the middle section take some time to stand out, this record is one of the strongest among the band's contemporary outputs and might even serve as great starting point for new audiences to properly discover this band.

Final rating: 80%