Concert Review: Testament/Exodus/Shattered Sun – Atlanta, GA – April 23, 2015

Testament/Exodus/Shattered Sun
April 23, 2015
Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade

Testament brought their Dark Roots of Thrash II tour to Atlanta, GA and I honestly say that it couldn’t get here soon enough. Along with Testament was fellow old school legends Exodus and new comers Shattered Sun. I can’t even begin to tell you how beside myself I was as I waited about as patiently as I could for this show to get here. As the day of the show finally rolled around, I (along with my fearless photographer, Emily) made our way into Heaven at the Masquerade to take in an old school night of thrash metal.

Shattered Sun

Starting things off was newcomers from south Texas, Shattered Sun. Shattered Sun kicked things off with a really high energy 30 minute set playing probably one of the loudest fucking sets I’ve heard in that room. You know it’s loud when even with ear plugs in you can feel your skull rattling around inside your fucking head. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a great thing as I really had a hard time telling if I was digging what I was hearing or not. For the most part, what I got from Shattered Sun was just another really loud, nondescript metal band with a singer who screams like a motherfucker. They definitely captured the attention of the crowd but I found myself just not really being all that excited. Their energy was off the charts which is a refreshing thing to see in a young band but again, the songs did nothing. Maybe I need to actually give their album a solid listen before completely forming my opinion.

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Exodus

The last time I saw Steve “Zetro” Souza fronting Exodus was back in 1988 when they toured as part of the Headbanger’s Ball tour with Helloween and headliners Anthrax. Over the years I saw Exodus a few times with Rob Dukes and while the fans seemed to constantly be on the fence about Dukes, I just went along with it for what it was and saw some pretty great Exodus shows. Well, after last night I was reminded just how much I, and the rest of the Exodus diehards had missed having Zetro in the fold.

The houselights went out and the audience went insane as Exodus opened strong with “Black 13” and without missing a beat slammed right into “Blood In, Blood Out.” This song has quickly become an Exodus anthem for the now and the crowd was so insanely responsive to this song. Zetro really knows how to work a crowd and he does it with all the class of a legendary frontman. Where Dukes was always kind of a meathead and overly aggressive, Zetro commands the audience yet his presence is as if he’s one of us (which he really is). He was so fucking psyched to be back in Exodus and to be playing for the fans and that energy was contagiously spread and reciprocated back to the band. Zetro was without a doubt having a blast as he reminisced of past times that Exodus visited Atlanta and he was so fucking happy you couldn’t kick the smile off his face.  Zetro’s energy also really seemed to take the the band into a whole other realm as they played with more fire than I had seen from them sin ages.  Exodus gave the audience all they had like the classic thrash metal legends that they are leaving it all on the stage.

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Exodus was kicking it so hard that it took me nearly 3 songs to realize that fucking Gary Holt wasn’t even there. That says a lot about just fucking good Exodus was bringing it.   Zetro announced that Heathen guitarist Kragen Lum was filling in for Holt while “did some shows with that ‘other’ thrash band” according to Zetro. My only real complaint about the set was the inclusion of the Rob Dukes era stuff. I don’t know that I ever realized how weak that material was in comparison to the classic material. Anthrax did something similar when they had Belladonna singing “Only” from the John Bush era. Why do that? Anyways, those songs came early enough in the set because by the time they were kicking into “Bonded by Blood” I had already forgotten about those songs. The set drew to a close with a 1-2-3 punch of classics that ended with “Strike of the Beast” absolutely annihilating everyone in the room.

Exodus once again proved to be one of my favorite metal bands with an absolutely stellar, facemelting show. With Zetro back in the fold, Exodus is so much more of a class act and a band that is totally worthy of being considered thrash royalty. Exodus’ performance was more than what I hoped it would be as it completely exceeded my expectations. The energy was so positive, appreciative, and just flat out contagious. This line-up has so much potential for more greatness and I can only hope that they will continue to grow together and continue to do what they do so well.  Bonded by Blood without a doubt.  Welcome back, Zetro!  We missed you.

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Testament

I have seen Testament seven times in my life and I can honestly tell you that Testament is a band that has never let me down when it comes to putting on a top notch live performance. This time around, Testament was touring under the Dark Roots of Thrash II tour where they were performing only songs from the first three albums. Well, after seeing the setlist they should’ve said that they were performing songs from the first two albums and the song “Practice What You Preach.” Well, if that was my only issue with this show (which it was), trust me, this is nothing more than a first world metal problem.

The first thing I was blown away by right off the bat was the stage production. Testament managed to bring an arena-like metal stage show to the Masquerade. I can’t say this enough. I love it when a band puts out some effort and thought into actually giving their fans a show. Testament pulled this off with one of the single best light shows I’ve seen in a club show along with a setlist that was nothing less than a juggernaut of facemelting awesomeness. The show opened with “Over the Wall” which in my opinion is probably Testament’s greatest show opener. This totally set the place on fire and then kicking into “The Haunted” just stepped it up to another level. Chuck Billy is such an ominous, monstrous presence on stage and is hands down one of metal’s greatest frontmen. Why he doesn’t get more attention for this is beyond me.

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Every song in the setlist was just one classic after another. Hearing this set full of classic songs really made me aware of just how timeless these songs are. Songs like “Burnt Offerings”, “The Preacher”, “Do or Die”, and “The New Order” sound like they could’ve been made this year as there is nothing about these songs that sounds dated or even tired or old. Just watching the guitar team of Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson alone is something to be witnessed. Much like I said about Chuck Billy, it blows me away that the team of Skolnick/Peterson doesn’t get more praise. These two are absolute monsters as they ripped through the set. “Trial by Fire” was a total highlight as this one really brought the crowd up with thrusting fists and singing along. Testament didn’t even bother doing the whole cheesy walk off stage encore and instead just hit everyone with a solid blow to the dome with “Practice What You Preach” and “Disciples of the Watch.” That combo alone was worth the price of admission as it completely blew my mind.

Testament always plays and performs like a band that is three times as big as they really are and that right there is a treat. This is why the fans, myself included, continue to go see Testament shows. We just know that no matter what venue they play, whether it is a shithole club or a gorgeous theater, Testament will give us a visually and musically stellar performance. Maybe Metallica should watch these guys and take note that you can still play at the top of your game 30 years later and still put on top notch shows. Testament is a classic metal band in the truest sense of the term and after seeing this show, I can honestly attest to the fact that their best days are still ahead of them.

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