Gig Review

Testament
Malefice, Xerath
Wolverhampton, Wulfrun hall

28th November 2012


Testament                     Malefice                      Xerath
                  

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

 Testament


Chuck Billy
Eric Peterson
Alex Skolnick
Greg Christian
Gene Hoglan

 Malefice


Dale Butler
Ben Symons
Andrew Wilson
Tom Hynes
Chris Allan-Whyte

 Xerath


Owain Williams
Richard Thomson
Michael Pitman
Christopher Clark

 Band Related Links
Testament Facebook
Malefice Facebook
Xerath Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?