Testament Live at The House of Blues in Anaheim, CA 05/18/2017

Thrash titans, Testament continue their global live assault with the "Brotherhood of the Snake" world tour. The album was released last year, and along with their previous outputting, "Dark Roots of Earth", is some of the best material they have given us yet.

Testament formed in 1983 in the Bay Area and for over thirty years have been a solid pillar in the thrash metal community. Still going strong with powerful songs that exemplify what thrash metal is, both in driving, guitar laden songs as well through their lyrics containing dark compelling subject matter.

Testament consists of guitarists extraordinaire, Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson providing the foundation of the Testament experience. Gene Hoglan keeps the blistering tempo on drums and Steve Di Giorgio fills in the heavy end between on bass guitar.

Giving Testament their seminal voice is Chuck Billy, scene giant and all around thrash pioneer. Lending his take on global mythos, religion, politics, and his own Native American heritage, he weaves gripping tales of past, present, and potential futures with his lyrics.

They opened the set with the title track from "Brotherhood of the Snake", an awesome song detailing the 6,000 year old society that moves behind the scenes and controls mankind's fate through religion, deception, and subtle manipulation.

"Rise Up" from "Dark Roots of Earth" engaged as a battle cry and the audience responded with a massive circle pit and crowd surfers tumbling over their fellow thrashers' heads.

Another fantastic song from the latest release, "The Pale King" is a story of prophecy and mystery surrounding an ancient king that controls life, death, and the gates of this world.

Continuing with material from the latest album, they did "Centuries of Suffering" before moving into their back catalog. They gave us "Electric Crown" and the fan favorite, "Into the Pit".

Their back drop for the stage was an immense version of the latest album cover with a sinister three-headed snake towering above human servants blind-folded and armed with scythes. They had multiple risers and platforms which Eric and Alex used extensively.

Chuck addressed the crowd asking how everybody was doing which garnered an intense response from the absolutely packed room. It was unbelievably hot and we were all sweating but loving each song they gave us. Chuck announced the next song as "Low" from the album of the same name.

Heading back into "Dark Roots" territory, they gave us the powerful "Throne of Thorns" and backed that up with another song from the latest release with the politically charged, "Stronghold": "Does it matter what the people say? Does it matter to you? Does it matter what the people say? And there's nothing you can do. Up rise Stronghold!"

Delving back into that massive thirty year history they moved through a range of eras with "Eyes of Wrath" followed by "First Strike is Deadly" and the crazy instrumental "Urotsukidôji" named after an even crazier Hentai Japanese anime involving rapist demons. Eric an Alex took turns blowing us away with intense guitar solos before Chuck returned to the stage for "Souls of Black".

Hitting upon another one of my favorite songs from the latest release, they did the biblical head-banger, "Seven Seals" relaying the tale of Revelations and the coming Apocalypse as the seals are broken and Christ comes wearing his crown.

Closing out the set with "New Order" the walls themselves were sweating from the mass of bodies swarming to the fast paced music. Testament returned to the stage for an encore of a couple of old fan favorites, "Practice What You Preach" and the show ender, "Over the Wall".

I have been a fan of Testament for literally decades but this was my first time getting to see them live due to unfortunate timing of previous concerts. I was excited to finally scratch this off of my bucket list. Testament were amazing live.

Chuck's voice is as powerful and intense as I had hoped and Alex and Eric are both wizards of shred, really impressive to watch them doing it right in front of your face. Add to that the blazing drum work and head-banging bass layers and it is unrivaled thrash music at its best.




				Testament Live at The House of Blues Anaheim, CA May 18th, 2017 Review and photos by Travis Baumann Thrash titans, Testament continue their global live assault with the "Brotherhood of the Snake" world tour. The album was released last year, and along with their previous outputting, "Dark Roots of Earth", is some of the best material they have given us yet. Testament formed in 1983 in the Bay Area and for over thirty years have been a solid pillar in the thrash metal community. Still going strong with powerful songs that exemplify what thrash metal is, both in driving, guitar laden songs as well through their lyrics containing dark compelling subject matter. Testament consists of guitarists extraordinaire, Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson providing the foundation of the Testament experience. Gene Hoglan keeps the blistering tempo on drums and Steve Di Giorgio fills in the heavy end between on bass guitar. Giving Testament their seminal voice is Chuck Billy, scene giant and all around thrash pioneer. Lending his take on global mythos, religion, politics, and his own Native American heritage, he weaves gripping tales of past, present, and potential futures with his lyrics. They opened the set with the title track from "Brotherhood of the Snake", an awesome song detailing the 6,000 year old society that moves behind the scenes and controls mankind's fate through religion, deception, and subtle manipulation. "Rise Up" from "Dark Roots of Earth" engaged as a battle cry and the audience responded with a massive circle pit and crowd surfers tumbling over their fellow thrashers' heads. Another fantastic song from the latest release, "The Pale King" is a story of prophecy and mystery surrounding an ancient king that controls life, death, and the gates of this world. Continuing with material from the latest album, they did "Centuries of Suffering" before moving into their back catalog. They gave us "Electric Crown" and the fan favorite, "Into the Pit". Their back drop for the stage was an immense version of the latest album cover with a sinister three-headed snake towering above human servants blind-folded and armed with scythes. They had multiple risers and platforms which Eric and Alex used extensively. Chuck addressed the crowd asking how everybody was doing which garnered an intense response from the absolutely packed room. It was unbelievably hot and we were all sweating but loving each song they gave us. Chuck announced the next song as "Low" from the album of the same name. Heading back into "Dark Roots" territory, they gave us the powerful "Throne of Thorns" and backed that up with another song from the latest release with the politically charged, "Stronghold": "Does it matter what the people say? Does it matter to you? Does it matter what the people say? And there's nothing you can do. Up rise Stronghold!" Delving back into that massive thirty year history they moved through a range of eras with "Eyes of Wrath" followed by "First Strike is Deadly" and the crazy instrumental "Urotsukidôji" named after an even crazier Hentai Japanese anime involving rapist demons. Eric an Alex took turns blowing us away with intense guitar solos before Chuck returned to the stage for "Souls of Black". Hitting upon another one of my favorite songs from the latest release, they did the biblical head-banger, "Seven Seals" relaying the tale of Revelations and the coming Apocalypse as the seals are broken and Christ comes wearing his crown. Closing out the set with "New Order" the walls themselves were sweating from the mass of bodies swarming to the fast paced music. Testament returned to the stage for an encore of a couple of old fan favorites, "Practice What You Preach" and the show ender, "Over the Wall". I have been a fan of Testament for literally decades but this was my first time getting to see them live due to unfortunate timing of previous concerts. I was excited to finally scratch this off of my bucket list. Testament were amazing live. Chuck's voice is as powerful and intense as I had hoped and Alex and Eric are both wizards of shred, really impressive to watch them doing it right in front of your face. Add to that the blazing drum work and head-banging bass layers and it is unrivaled thrash music at its best.









































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