Testament & Kreator co-headlined at White Oak Music Hall in Houston, Tx on October 18th, 2024 with support from Possessed on the Klash of the Titans Tour!
“Get ready North America. We are looking forward to a co-headline tour with our Thrash master friends Kreator. This is gonna be a madhouse of a show with our Bay Area homies Possessed opening the show so get there early. Testament will be performing an old-school set celebrating the re-release of The Legacy and The New Order .” – TESTAMENT
Chuck Billy explains:
“Our goal with remastering The Legacy and The New Order was to make them breathe. Mixing and mastering is much different today than it was 37 years ago. We pulled back a lot of the effects we’d put on the tracks back in the day and made it all really powerful, solid, and loud. It’s amazing how much it all opened up. We’re excited to get our remastered first two albums to our fans because they sound like how they probably always should have sounded. It was our first time in the studio back then, after all.
We put those first four records out in four years. We were just relentless with writing, recording, and touring. That’s what really established us as artists. And we’ve gotten better over the years as performers. We’re focused. The number one thing that matters to us is the show, not the party. We’re giving it 100 percent every night.
At Milwaukee Metal Fest I asked the crowd who’d seen us in the late eighties and only a few hands went up. So we’re doing this for the old school fans, the people who never had a chance to hear all of these songs live before, and the new generation. We’ll hit them hard with The Legacy and The New Order, thrashing away.”
Newest member, young gun drummer Chris Dovas adds:
“Testament is a band I grew up listening to so it’s important to me to stay true to the Testament sound. It’s been so cool to play songs from the first two albums live. I’ve tried to do them justice, staying true to how they were recorded, while adding little extra bits. Like a few parts where Eric is doing some chugging, I’ll match it with double bass. Little things like that. They are classic records so I stay true to the parts while also imagining what I might have done a little differently in those sessions.”
KREATOR comments:
“We’re very proud to bring a second edition of the Klash Of The Titans to North America! This time with the Bay area beasts, Testament and one of my favorite bands in the world, Possessed. From start to finish, this is metal madness and we can’t wait to deliver our biggest shows to date over there!”
Metal, in essence, is a culture steeped in traditionalism, and in their namesake, testament are flying the banner of what tradition is. Staying true to their roots of crushing riffs, galloping tempos, scorching solos and soaring vocals, Testament is thrash metal in its purest and unadulterated form.
Longevity is such an overlooked aspect of metal music, and this band proves that by giving the fans what they want, the classic. The thrash metal veterans played a set that consisted of their first two albums, The Legacy (1987) and The New Order (1988). Testament started their set with the song “Erie Inhabitants“, a track with an uneasy guitar into that descends into complete madness, a perfect representation of the bands sound. Amongst the sea of fans, vocalist Chuck Billy told the houston crowd about a time he had met a particular band in Houston many years ago, a band he knew had potential. Billy chuckled to himself saying, “yall might of heard of this band, a little band from Texas called Pantera”, to which the cheers from the audience erupted and filled the dark venue like smoke from a fog machine.
During the performance, I couldn’t help but notice how there was both young and old fans alike in the crowd. Chuck Billy recently talked about this in an interview with Decibel, stating, ” During our most recent festival run, I looked out into the crowd and I saw our fans, many of whom were grayed out [Laughs], but there’s a lot of kids. They’re into us, and I find that pretty cool. They might be seeing us for the first time and asking themselves, “Who is Testament?!” Then—I hope—they go into our history and start listening to our music.”
Testament finished their set with the track “Into The Pitt“, featuring a vocal chant that the crowd screamed along to. If there’s one thing I’ve learned watching this band, it’s that they know what their fans want, and they give it to them, unfiltered and unapologetic. This is what’s given the band their success and their longevity, by sticking to the roots of who they are. Will you join the insanity?
Setlist:
- Eerie Inhabitants
- The New Order
- Apocalyptic City
- Raging Waters
- The Preacher
- The Haunting
- Trial by Fire
- Drum Solo
- First Strike Is Deadly
- A Day of Reckoning
- Alone in the Dark
- Do or Die
- Disciples of the Watch
- Over the Wall
- Into the Pit
German thrash outfit Kreator, was also on the bill. The European metal act brought there specific blend of thrash metal with black metal imagery to the houston audience. The integration of stage props really brought the bands vision to life, giving the concert a ritualistic occult feel.
Kreator started there set with the song “Hate Uber Alles“, the title track from their 2022 release. A blistering track with a intemperate tempo! Paired with a blazing solo, it’s the kind of song I would love to blast while flying down a highway in a convertible.
Kreator finished their set off with the song “Pleasure To Kill“, an older gem from their 1986 release with the same name. I especially like vocalist Millie Petroza’s aggressive and gritty style in this song. If you’re a fan of European thrash, this is the band for you. Hail to the hordes!
Setlist:
- Hate Uber Alles
- Phobia
- Enemy of God
- 666 – World Divided
- Hordes of Chaos (A Necrologue for the Elite)
- Hail to the Hordes
- Betrayer
- Satan Is Real
- Phantom Antichrist
- Strongest of the Strong
- Terrible Certainty
- Violent Revolution
- Pleasure to Kill
Leave a Reply