3O years in the making ,three bay area thrash giants roll into Dublin to unleash an assault of old school thrash metal something never seen before.
When this tour was announced fans old and new put this date in their calendar as a gig not to miss. TESTAMENT are just fresh out of the studio and are on tour to promote their new album ‘TITANS OF CREATION’, while EXODUS are on tour to display, not only the return of guitar slayer Gary Holt, but to unleash a catalogue of classic EXODUS thrash metal hits.
Tonight, openers DEATH ANGEL are also showcasing a new album ‘Humanicide’ and are keen to get this party started and right from the off they unleased an onslaught of titanic riffs and hard hitting drums and bass. Lead singer Mark Osegueda kept saying “it been a long time Dublin and thank you for supporting thrash metal and yes we will be back on a headline tour very soon”.
Up next was EXODUS who had a special weapon in their arsenal; it was the return of Gary Holt, and from the first note his presence was clearly felt, opening with “Body Harvest” EXODUS whipped up a fury.
Sometimes it was a struggle to hear lead singer Steve Zetro Souza because of the distortion but the relentless onslaught of EXODUS classics continued.
Fans where treated to the most recent album “Blood in ,Blood out” and a trip back in time to “Fabulous Disaster” this was a night to remember, bringing their set to a close was an early classic “The Toxic Waltz” and fans favourite “Strike of the Beast”, the crowd were warmed up nicely for TESTAMENT.
From the offset TESTAMENTs intent was shown, taking fans back to the early days with fans favourite “Eerie Inhabitants”; the first of five classics from their defining ‘The New Order’ album. with Skolnick and Peterson exchanging riffs, TESTAMENT continued to please. Their energy on stage is relentless with lead singer Chuck Billy in fine form “How are we feeling Dublin? it’s good to be back! I’ve been looking forward to coming out here tonight. You know why? I was born in Dublin… Dublin, California” .
Fans old and new where treated to a display of TESTAMENTS classics. I was totally blown away with their musicality and each member having their own solo interludes really fascinated me, Skolnick for the win. Gene Holgan is a beast he is enormous, and you have to feel sorry for his poor drums as he beats the living hell out of them.
TESTAMENT also treated fans to the more recent ‘Dark Roots Of The Earth’ and to the last album ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’ with the thunderous song ‘The Pale King’, up next was another of the fans favourites, ‘Practice What You Preach’. Tonight, was absolutely an evening to remember.
Finishing tonight they return to the defining album ‘The Legacy’ with the iconic ‘Over The Wall’. What a song! I didn’t want this night to end there and it didn’t, straight into ‘Disciples Of The Watch’ which saw TESTAMENT book their place as one of the finest in bay area history! Come back soon!
Review by Darren McVeigh
Photography by Darren McLoughlin
