Live Report | Testament - 30 November 2012 – Camden Town, London

Hailing from Oakland, California Chuck Billy and his company came to spread chaos all over London last night. Testament have been on the road the last few months since their last album ‘Dark Roots of The Earth’ was released and as soon as they announced a show in Camden, we booked our tickets and we were not going to miss it for the world!

We managed to arrive late, yet again, due to train delays (every freaking time…) and we missed the 2 opening bands Xerath and Malefice. This was my first concert in KOKO and I must say that I was really impressed. It was called Camden Palace until 2004 and its architecture is fantastic as it used to be a theatre, with balconies on the side and a small stage with very little space from the crowd at the front. 

The place was packed as expected and Testament got on stage around 8pm. From the first song until the end of the concert the crowd was ecstatic doing mosh pits and crowd surfing creating a pandemonium!  Songs like ‘Into The Pit’, ‘Over The Wall’ and ‘Disciples of the Watch’ generated chaos in the theatre with Chuck screaming his lungs out and Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson shredding (flawlessly) like crazy. Their setlist was inclusive of nearly their whole discography, presenting their new stuff as well as their classics and I believe that no one left unsatisfied.

1.       Rise Up

2.       The New Order

3.       The Preacher

4.       Native Blood

5.       True American Hate

6.       More Than Meets the Eye

7.       Dark Roots of the Earth

8.       Into The Pit

9.       Practice What You Preach

10.   Over the Wall

11.   Alone in the Dark

12.   Disciples of the Watch

13.   D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)

14.   3 Days in Darkness

15.   The Formation of Damnation

Having seen both Overkill and Testament the last 2 months, I have to say that it is time that we reconsider the Big 4 of Thrash Metal.

Alexandros Vacanas
November 2012