Words by Rant Chick / Photos by Marcus Maschwitz

Cast your mind back to 1983: as you cough your way through the hairspray of the teased-haired, spandex-wearing, glitter-infused conglomeration of glam-metallers, you will stumble upon a band called Testament – born in America to the town of California. 27 years later the band exists as an attestation to longevity: testified by fans, both young and old, who congregated at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire to witness thrash metal at its very best. The all-consuming anticipation that permeates the air is finally ignited when the legends of thrash finally respond to the crowd’s calls and appear on stage to entertain and brutalise with riffs that are bigger and badder than ever. Chuck Billy, the mammoth vocalist with the mammoth voice, opens the set with The Preacher, taking the audience way back to Testament’s second album The New Order. The evening’s set list (The Preacher, The New Order, Over the Wall, Practice What You Preach, More Than Meets the Eye, The Persecuted Won’t Forget, Burnt Offerings, The Legacy, Into the Pit, Souls of Black, Disciples of the Watch Encore: DNR, 3 Days in Darkness and The Formation of Damnation) spans seven of the band’s ten albums, reflecting the contribution Testament has made to metal over that last two decades. Intellectually the band still has a great deal to offer, having lived through the political, personal and social upheavals that life has hurled its way since the band’s conception. Musically, the band is as tight as ever – guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick shred through an unyielding set without losing any fingers, bassist Greg Christian rips up some juggernaut speed tempos and, surprisingly, Paul Bostaph manages to extricate his foot from the double bass drum pedal when the gig is over. Billy owns the stage with his grandiose stage personality and, with the help of his mic-stand, ads to the guitar mayhem with some air-guitaring that punctuates his relentless vocal aggression. Testament comes full circle by ending a raucous three-song encore with the title track from 2008′s The Formation of Damnation, and even after a mass of tireless head-banging, moshing and crowd-surfing the crowd is still able conjure up enough energy to belt out the battle cry of the final song: I will fight relentlessly/ I stand tall defiantly/ I see what you cannot see/ I invoke the beast in me/ I fear not the agony/ I breathe hope inside of thee/ I will kill the enemy/ I fulfill my destiny” – powerful words that exemplify the persistence of a band (and its fans) that stands in opposition to the world’s bullshit.

Hot on the heels of their blistering US headlining tour Damnation Vacation with Unearth and Lazarus AD;  thrash gods TESTAMENT now hit Europe hard on a huge summer run throughout Europe, where they’ll be playing the Metalcamp, Wacken Open Air, and the Brutal Assault festivals. The tour kicks off in Holland on July 2 and concludes August 8 in Belgium. The band has been touring non-stop in support of their award-winning album, Golden God Album of the Year award, The Formation of Damnation, including this year’s “Priest Feast” tour in Europe with Judas Priest earlier this year and a phenomenal run on the “Metal Masters” tour last summer with Heaven and Hell and Motorhead.

Upon their return in August, the band will be making a stop in NYC for a special taping of SIRIUS XM’s Artist Confidential series.Artist Confidential features the most important and timeless artists in music sitting down for candid interviews, intimate conversations with fans and live performances. Artists who have appeared in the SIRIUS XM series include Paul McCartney, Santana, Coldplay, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Def Leppard, Rush, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink, James Taylor, Sting, Bob Weir and over 100 others. The show is scheduled to air later this year on SIRIUS XM’s Liquid Metal, SIRIUS channel 27 and XM channel 42.

Stay tuned for more from Testament!

EUROPEAN DATES:

7/02 – ZWOLLE, HOLLAND – HEDON

7/03 – ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – SOUNDDOCK 14

7/04 – TOLMIN, SLOVENIA – METALCAMP FESTIVAL

7/05 – ROME, ITALY- IPPODROME – co-headline with Kreator & Exodus

7/06 – RIMINI, ITALY – VELVET – co-headline with Kreator & Exodus

7/09 – KILAFORS, SWEDEN- ROCKWEEKEND FESTIVAL (Second Stage)

7/10 – KVINESDALE, NORWAY- ROCK FESTIVAL

7/12 – KRACKOW, POLAND- KNOCKOUT FESTIVAL (Wisla Hall)

7/17 – TOKAJ, HUNGARY – HEGYALJA FESTIVAL

7/20 – SHEFFIELD, UK – THE CORPORATION

7/21 – GLASGOW, UK – THE GARAGE

7/22 – NEWCASTLE, UK- O2 ACADEMY

7/23 – BRISTOL, UK – O2 ACADEMY
7/24 – LONDON, UK – O2 EMPIRE SHEPHERDS BUSH

7/25 – WOLVERHAMPTON UK – WULFRUN HALL

7/27 – ATHENS, GREECE – OLYMPIC FENCING ARENA

7/29 – ISTANBUL, TURKEY- KUCUKCIFTLIK PARK

8/01 – WACKEN, GERMANY – WACKEN OPEN AIR FESTIVAL

8/02 – HELSINKI, FINLAND – ANKKA ROCK FESTIVAL

8/07 – JAROMER, CZECH REPUBLIC – BRUTAL ASSAULT                 

8/08 – DEINZE, BELGIUM – ALCATRAZ FESTIVAL   

CENTRAL/ SOUTH AMERICA:

9/04 - SANTIAGO, CHILE – TEATRO CAUPOLICAN

9/05 – BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – TEATRO FLORES

9/06 – SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – CITIBANK HALL

9/07 - RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - CIRCO VOADOR

9/09 – CURITIBA, BRAZIL – OPERA 1

9/12 – MONTERREY, MEXICO – MONTERREY ARENA

9/13 – MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – CUERVO SALON

 JAPANESE DATES:

9/17 – OSAKA – BIG CAT – w/ Kreator 
9/19 – KAWASAKI – CLUB CITTA – w/ Exodus, Kreator, Heathen

9/20 – KAWASAKI – CLUB CITTA - w/ Exodus, Kreator, Heathen

9/21 – NAGOYA – ELL