Testament @ Barrowland Ballroom (8th March 2020)

with: Exodus and Death Angel


Hosted by: Hamilton Hunter


WORDS: Ross Donald

What a spectacular night to be a thrash metal fan... I’d struggle to come up with much better lineups with three stellar and ultimately underrated Bay Area thrash metal bands all being booked for that night. They may not be part of the big 4, but they can damn sure make a good claim for why they should be held up in high esteem. Coronavirus is currently taking over the world and tons of live acts are cancelling their tours, but these guys were not afraid to still come out and put on a show.

Let’s get right to it then.

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If you need a fantastic band to open a show, Death Angel are the guys to call. This is now my second time getting the chance to see the band live after my first experience took place at Bloodstock last year (review for that is over here).

I enjoyed them so much last time that I took myself right up to the front of the crowd to experience them yet again (although I wouldn’t end up staying here for long due to a bit of overcrowding). The band really haven’t lost a step since the last time I saw them, as they were still full of mad energy and enough major guitar riffs to fill the room hundreds of times over. Mark Osegueda’s vocals were on top form as he can let out a scream with the best of them. I’m sure even King Diamond would be jealous.

Newer tracks ‘Humanicide’ and ‘Aggressor’ fit in well with the classics such as cuts from one of my favourite albums The Ultra Violence:‘Mistress of Pain’ and ‘Voracious Souls’, along with more modern cuts like ‘The Moth’. The crowd was with them all the way as well and treated them like they were the headline act with pits and crowd surfing aplenty.

Terrific way to start the show with their thrash metal that left you without a breath. I can’t wait to inevitably see the band for a third time.

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Well, if Death Angel were here to energise the crowd then Exodus were here to tear the fucking roof off the place. Part of me thinks they were trying to make a case as to why they should have been headlining, and after this performance I don’t think anyone would argue against it.

Regular guitarist Gary Holt made his return from touring with the mighty Slayer on their final tour, and he definitely hasn’t missed a beat. After a comedic start with a fantastic mix of 'Yakety Sax' with Slayer’s ‘Angel of Death’, the band flew right into a furious rendition of ‘Body Harvest’ from their latest album Blood In, Blood Out. They also made sure to include the title track straight after. Also, what was it with 80s metal vocalists that night? They seemed to be on top form, and Steve Sousa was no exception to the rule as he sounded about 20 years younger than he actually is.

The classic tracks did get the best response from the crowd; and as with Death Angel, they gelled seamlessly with the newer tracks. ‘Fabulous Disaster’ felt like it was going to destroy the building with everyone jumping around all over the place. The longer, more epic ‘Deathanphetamine’ toned things down a tad while still bringing the thrashing goods. Before the catchy as hell ‘Toxic Waltz’, Gary Holt even played the intros to ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Angel of Death’ in a funny moment to tease the crowd. ‘Strike of the Beast’ felt like the perfect way to cap things off with one last vicious rush of adrenaline to keep everyone going until the main event arrived.

Napalm Death are still the best live band I’ve seen so far this year, but Exodus are a damn close second with a thundering performance that didn’t show their age at all, and they made every track featured feel like an event in and of itself. A wonderful time and I could have went home quite happy after this.

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Of course we still had the big guns to come though, with Testament making their way to a very welcoming crowd. Getting to see Chuck Billy in person was pretty awesome and the frontman definitely made his presence known. Even when he wasn’t providing those iconic vocals in which he sounds like a much gruffer James Hetfield, he was playing guitar on his mic stand while the band melts all of our collective faces.

The setlist was pretty huge and contained enough songs to cover a full 90 minutes. But that seemed to pass by in just a few minutes. The band had a nice mix of quite a few earlier classics while also providing the bigger tracks from later releases to really show what most of their discography was about.

The gig kicked off with a bunch of classics. Much of this was material taken from ‘The New Order’, which is my favourite album of theirs, so that’s all good with me. Opening with ‘Eerie Inhabitants’, this was followed right away with ‘The New Order’ before going back to their debut album The Legacy with ‘The Haunting’. After this onslaught of thrash, we were treated to 3 straight tracks taken from 2012’s ‘Dark Roots of Earth’, including the more melodic but still heavy title track, ‘Last Stand for Independence' (holy shit what a rush this was...).

The epic ‘Throne of Thorns’ then really showed that modern Testament songs are just as good as the classics, if not even better. They proved this even further with a couple of cuts from 2016’s ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’ with the title track and ‘The Pale King’ providing my great thrash for my ears. After a throwback to 1999’s ‘Fall of Sipledome’, the band played us their latest two singles from their upcoming album Titans of Creation with ‘Children of the Next Level’ and the brilliant ‘Night of the Witch’. They could have ended the gig here and we’d have all been happy with what we’d already been given, but Testament weren’t done with us yet.

‘Into the Pit’ had pretty much the whole room heading for the circle pit in the middle with easily the most frenzied track of the night. Chuck then thanked the security for doing a great job of catching everyone crowd surfing, before apologising for what was to come. They then blasted right into ‘Over the Wall’ to once again send the crowd mental. ‘Disciples of the Watch’ ended the set on a high to really send everyone home happy and cement this tour as one unmissable beast.

All three bands are to be commended and if you missed any shows on this tour, I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for you. Who said thrash metal was dead?

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Thanks to Ross for his review of Testament at the Barrowlands, and thanks to you for checking this out! Feel free to leave a comment below or you can help support RWEI by giving us a like/follow on the socials. As always, we're open to submissions and/or contributions from bands and writers in Glasgow and beyond so give us an email or message if you're interested. 

Cheers!


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