TESTAMENT & SYLOSIS
ISLINGTON ACADEMY 25/03/09
I honestly wish I had the superlatives to describe this concert; Testament playing their first two albums in their original fullness (a shaky Aerosmith cover being left out), after an intensive tour opening for Judas Priest and fellow guests Megadeth that saw them playing over thirty dates in less then a month and a half.
When the door opened at 7pm, a bunch of us emptied from the nearby scrumpy vending Weatherspoons only to discover a queue snaking out of the shopping centre that envelops the (insert latest sponsor!) Academy Islington. With a promise of the last day of their European leg delivering the first two albums, ‘The Legacy’ and ‘New Order’ in full, and rumour having it that there was no support, nobody who had managed to get tickets wanted to risk missing one single note.
As it was, the pretty much unexpected and unannounced openers Sylosis had a half hour slot before Testament hit the stage at 9PM. I'd heard some Sylosis before and been impressed by the twin guitar riffs layered over tight bass and drums. Sadly, this musicianship was ruined by a vocalist who after just a couple of lines had myself and fellow veteran metallers wondering how long until he had his arm shoved up behind his back whilst the other beat his chest! The answer is, well, first song. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the anguished bark as a punctuation during a metal song; when the vocalist does nothing but scream in a way that drowns out the lyrics, any interest rapidly transmutes into boredom. At least the screaming front man had the self awareness to tell the crowd, "I know you're only here for one band, and thanks to Testament."
Once the support was over, and after an overlong changeover, DJ and metal historian supreme Malcolm Dome hit the stage to regale an already primed audience with the history of thrash, telling how Testament had never sold out. After so much waiting, his doubtless worthy and accurate intro was drowned out by boos, accompanied with a fair bombardment of the plastic cups and bottles the bar gave out.
As soon as the ever more weathered and grinning Chuck Billy hit the stage with a barked, "alright", nothing else mattered then diving into the thrash sea laid out by Testament. Metal drummer par excellence Paul Bostaph may be banging the drums with his metronome like power these days, but the original front line of Peterson, Billy, Skolnik and Christian were owning the stage the way they did the first time I caught them live at the Clash of the Titans show in 1990.
With his first throaty cry, backed up by what must be one of the tightest touring line ups around, Chuck Billy showed new generations of vocalists what it took to be a metal master. He shouted, screamed, sang, grunted, and fired out crystal clear lyrics with the pace of an overheating machine gun, each of his notes echoed and bolstered by a chanting pit full of ardent fans.
If only I could convey in my poor words how fresh and relevant the band sounded, as they pummelled the sold out crowd, myself included, into a sweating and panting mass. The Haunting; First Strike is Deadly; Do or Die (in an almost unique live delivery); New Order; Trial by Fire; Into the Pit; every blasting note had me and the crowd 
whipped up into a frenzy, Alex Skolnik, returned to the fold after too many years with band stalwart Alex Peterson trading solos as if two decades had disappeared and they were eager and skilled teenagers again. By the time 'The Preacher' fired up, even I had to retreat to the back for a refreshing pint, the veterans on the stage having battered me and the pit into a pulp, work commitments meaning I missed the encore from 'The Formation of Damnation.'
This was the sort of gig that lives on in memory decade after decade for those lucky enough to be there. For those who didn't make it, just beware; Testament promises their next album will be their heaviest.
Spenny Bullen
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