A View From The Back Of The Room: The Bay Strikes Back Tour (Live Review By Rich Oliver)

Testament, Exodus & Death Angel at O2 Academy, Bristol

It is safe to say that this review is going to be a little bit biased as I basically adore thrash metal. It is the first style of metal I heard and loved and still to this day brings out an impassioned response when I hear it and see it live. My heart really lies with the old school bands of the 1980’s and so a chance to see three of the finest bands from that era all in one tour package could not be passed up.

The first thing to get out of the way is the venue. I have expressed my dislike of the O2 Academy in Bristol on many occasions. It seems since the last time I was there that some work has been done to improve the venue so that views from the balconies have been drastically improved. The main issue has always been the capacity. The venue is generally always oversold resulting in horrendous bottlenecks getting in and out of the main room, to the bar and to the toilets. This is still a problem with the venue but at this gig it was not as bad as I have seen it previously.

Now that’s out of the way let’s get onto the music. Three of the finest bands from the San Francisco Bay Area thrash scene all in one evening. This was an all you can thrash buffet. Kicking the evening off were Death Angel (9) who stormed onto stage fizzling with energy and rarely keeping still. The set was mainly made up of latter day material such as Humanicide, Claws In So Deep, The Dream Calls For Blood and a furious rendition of The Moth which got a fervent response from the rabid audience. Classics such as Voracious Souls and Seemingly Endless Time also saw bodies flung about with complete disregard for injury. The band played a slick and tight set and despite being the opening act played like they were headlining the show.

After a short break the audience were subjected to a lesson in violence from the legendary Exodus (9). An absolutely furious onslaught of relentless thrash saw the crowd surge and smash throughout the entire duration of the set. Opening with Body Harvest and Blood In, Blood Out from their most recent album the rest of the set was made up of older material such as Deathamphetamine and Blacklist to stone cold classics like And Then There Were None, Fabulous Disaster, Bonded By Blood and the mosh pit anthem The Toxic Waltz. After his tenure with Slayer it was great to see Gary Holt back in his rightful place with Exodus. It certainly felt like a homecoming and after the stunning performance by the band many were stating that Exodus should have been the headliners of the night.

Alas the headlining slot landed with Testament (9). I think after the double assault of both Death Angel and Exodus the crowd was a bit worn out. Plenty of enthusiasm was shown but not as much moving around. Testament delivered a slick set of thrashing goodness with plenty of classics and a few surprises. Classics such as Eerie Inhabitants, The New Order, The Haunting and The Preacher got huge cheers and heads banging whilst latter day material such as Dark Roots Of Earth, Brotherhood Of The Snake and The Pale King received equal approval. We were also treated to a new song Night Of The Witch from upcoming album Titans Of Creation.

One song that was very much a nice surprise and included in the set at the request of drummer Gene Hoglan was the relentless Fall Of Sipledome which ranks as one of the most brutal and aggressive songs in the Testament back catalogue. The latter part of the set was dedicated to more classics such as Into The Pit, Practice What You Preach, Over The Wall and Disciples Of The Watch which saw the audience use up the last vestiges of their energy for the final mosh pits of the night. Frontman Chuck Billy was his usual imposing self dominating the stage but the star of the show was definitely guitarist Alex Skolnick whose sublime lead guitar playing proved exactly why he is one of the most revered guitarists in the genre.

Overall this was an absolutely fantastic evening. Furious yet slick performances from all the bands involved with each band performing like they were headlining. There’s not been a thrash tour of this calibre on our shores for a long time and there might not be one again but from the fervent response from the audience the hunger for Bay Area thrash metal is well and truly alive.