Xerath have a sound that is definitely
appealing to me with my predominantly modern metal
disposition, at a thrash metal show however with
some of the old school thrash followers here they
don’t seem to be going down that well, in
all fairness they may have foreseen this coming
as they appear a bit out of their depth tonight
almost intimidated. Not much movement to speak
of and a lack of interaction in all honesty, I’m
not taking this as an impression of the band I’m
just considering the fact that this is a band
who aren’t really on comfortable ground
with a crowd filled with people who aren’t
into what they’re doing, I believe this
has affected their performance considerably but
the musical side to the set was pitch perfect
from what I could tell, so they haven’t
got much to prove to me next time.
Malefice come out in force and blast through their
trademark metalcore/tech metal style that has
dominated the UK as of late, they only get a short
set of around 5 songs but in all fairness that’s
all these rising metal heads need to start a party.
When I say party, that is what would usually ensue
but here they just don’t seem to be hitting
home with the audience as they try to get a pit
going or even some morsel of energetic display
but alas tonight it was not meant to be, this
die hard thrash fans appear a tough nut to crack.
The band really gives it their all and are able
to poke fun at themselves a bit to lighten the
mood a bit and it pays off at the opportune moments
to keep people from leaving the room. Proof that
all a band needs when facing a potentially awful
reception is a dose of confidence and a wild sense
of humour, that’s all it takes.
Testament are one of the commanding forces in
thrash metal and they always have been, being
able to not only go toe to toe with the greats
like Slayer and Megadeth but the ability to perhaps
surpass them in many ways! Tonight is like another
day at the office for the gang, Wolverhampton
has not flooded into the venue but the thrash
metal following is out in force to support their
heroes, not to be disappointed either. Their set
list spans out across their extensive list of
albums managing to get material from 6 of them
into their 13 song set, the brunt of which being
from their latest effort “Dark Roots of
Earth”. Such powerful anthems pushed into
this set; “Rise Up”, “Native
Blood”, “True American Hate”,
“Into The Pit”, “The New Order”
oh the list goes on. Chuck Billy commands authority
and by God what a man, vocals are just as perfect
as ever and his presence is one of the biggest
that I’ve ever felt on a stage. The full
package; good stage show, pitch perfect heavy
thrash and a solid set list to hand.
Xerath 3/5
Malefice 4/5
Testament 4.5/5
Review By James Webb
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