Testor - Animal Killstinct (2011)
 

In Poland this band, founded in the year 1989 by the brothers Wieśka (guitar) and Mirka (drums) Jung, is not unknown anymore. It was completed by Maciek Taff (vocals), Paweł Zakrzewski (guitar) and Paweł Nawrocki (bass). The following years were a very moving story. In 1989 the band recorded their first demo CD “The Torment”. Two years later for the first time a member, Maciek, left the band and was replaced by Wojtek Lada. With a new singer they worked on their 2nd demo,  that was released by the name “Through the Back Door” and just a year later the third demo was released wearing the sober name “Demo 93”. Afterwards they had many lineup changes. Again the changed the vocalist and Chris Rustecki became the new singer, Micheal Jasiniski replaced Paul Nawrocki as bassist and with Robert Pruski they found a new 2^nd guitar player very fast, who took the place of Paul Zakrewski. The Band played on many festivals with several well-known bands, and so they gathered a remarkable fan base. One of their first highlights was winning the 1^st place in in the festival contest in Wegorzewo in 1995. One year later their first album “Ruiny” was released. Between the years 1998 and 2000 they released three new demo CDs and in 2001 their 2^nd official album “50% - Garage”, contains the Michael Jackson Cover song “Smooth Criminal”, which was produced as a video clip in the year 2003. In spring of the same year a new lineup change took place. Again the singer was leaving the and after searching for a suitable replacement, Robert Prach joined the band. In the following they found the way back to their roots.  2005 they released the single “Pillar”, bass player Jarka Wozinak left the band and is replaced by Sebastian Gorski. But also Robert Prach left, so they introduced the talented new singer Raphael Wacnicki. Together the released the 3^rd Album “Next Stop Insanity”, which has a high impact and is a great success. 2008 Sebastian leaves the band, for him Tomek Zawadzki is welcomed in 2009. Now the five musician are ready to impress the fans all over the world with the quality of their music. In 2011 they released the 4^th album “Animal Killstinct”, which I will present in this review.

After a short but epic Intro, which sounds like a mix of whale songs, native Australian and Egypt sounds, I thought I played the wrong CD, is it really Melodic Thrash?  But it brought me back to the ground fast.

The first song, called “heroes to the Gallows”, is what I promised myself of this band, a hard and heavy sound and a singer who knows his job. The guitar sound is dirty, but very melodic, and the shouting is grandiose, so I think this sounds like real thrash metal.

The 2^nd song is the namesake of this album “Animal Killstinct”.  The guitars and the drums are played in a high class performance, that’s pure Thrash Metal. It´s hard to compare it, the sound isn´t new but every song has its own sound.  The “Rise of the Cobra” is my first tip on this CD, the drummer has a very hard work to do, united with the great vocals of the singer and the roaring guitars, it’s a must be for everyone, who loves solid thrash metal. The whole CD is really well done, the sound seems to be clear and not overdriven and all instruments play in a good harmony. Furthermore all musicians are able to play their instruments and get all out of their music. “This Brock” is a good example for all of this, it’s very fast but it´s also possible to sing along the refrains the first time you hear this song. Sometimes there are some sequences to ease it a little bit, and there is no chance, you have to hear this song a second time. The 6^th song called “Psychotic High Speed Ensemble” is full of power, the floating sound leads you through this song. It is a very fast thrash sound, similar to Speed Metal and I really like this song. My 2^nd listening tip is the song “The Hollowing”,that is marked with fabulous guitars and impulsive shouting, so this song has his own strength. If you’d like to hear some preview, visit their MySpace site!!! Now, with high speed it is sliding to “Stagnation Sludge”, a very fast song, that is much recommended. Slowly  we are coming to an end so the 9^th song of ”Animal Killstinct” called “Total Annihilation” is much aggressive and it should be a real impact on their concerts. It’s hard, wild and untamable, but it is the last song on this CD. After all of this we were led through the outro starting with the sound of a thunderstorm which leads to melodic guitar play and a good ending of a CD.

So let us talk a little bit about the rest. The booklet is very simple and it includes the lyrics of the songs, which are good readable.  Additional there are some band pics and on the last page of the booklet you can find the actual lineup and some words of the band and contact info, like the band homepage. The front cover is also good looking and worth to be called a cover of a Thrash Metal CD.

In my opinion it is a very good CD with a perfect variation of songs, which are played in a balance of Speed Metal and raw up to melodic Thrash Metal.  Even after listening to this CD several times you won’t be getting bored. But I am disappointed not having known about Testor before. I can really recommend this CD.

Lineup:

Rafael   “Kefir”  Wachnicki        vocals
Robert “Robson”  Pruski            guitar
Wiesiek "Dżang" Jung                 guitar
Tomek  "Zawad" Zawadzki         bass
Mirek    "Mekson" Jung              drums

Soundquality: 10/10                Variation: 9/10                       Cover: 8,5/10        Booklet: 9/10
Total: 9,0