KLASH OF THE TITANS: Possessed, Kreator & Testament rip up House of Blues!

Possessed holds a special place in the evolution of metal music in the Bay Area thrash scene as well as their status as a proto death metal band in their early years if not serving as originators of the sub genre. It’s actually rather easy to go back to ‘Seven Churches’ and pick out parts of their music that are easily rooted in the burgeoning thrash scene or Jeff Becerra’s growling vocal style that’s sounds equal parts early Exodus as much as they are akin to early Death or Obituary. 

Possessed had reformed as an entity for a second time but with Jeff Becerra reprising his vocal duties in 2007 at that year’s edition of Wack Open Air eighteen years after the attack on Becerra that left him paralyzed from his chest area down. This current lineup of Possessed is very much a force to be reckoned with, performing the legendary discography to the exacting standards required to share the stage with the rest of this show’s bill. 

Kudos as well to Becerra for getting on stage in his wheelchair. The venues may be accessible but stages at a lot of places most definitely aren’t. I’ve seen Jeff Walker perform with Carcass having to sit on a stool in front of his mic stand due to an injured foot but never someone so metal he’s performed wheelchair bound for nearly twenty years. 

I suppose the only downside is how little new music has been released but there is good news. The follow-up to 2019’s ‘Revelations of Oblivion’ was last reported on Blabbermouth is to be recorded this year and Possessed still has one additional album on their deal with Nuclear Blast. 

Next we have the German thrash legends Kreator visiting Las Vegas for the first time in fifteen years. This was the first time I’ve seen them but I was sold on them with the premiere of the “Enemy of God” music video on MTV2’s Headbanger’s Ball back in my highschool years. As amusing as the child actress performing a Wednesday Addams-like character terrorizing her parents was, it was the music that sold me on going out to find me a copy of the album by the same name. I became especially infatuated with their melodic thrash metal period that starts with 2001’s ‘Violent Revolution’.

On a side note this familiarity of Kreator meant I was all over local Vegas act Avenger Of Blood and I’m so excited for their upcoming show. 

I was pretty sold on the ampless stage setup when it comes with such an awesome display of what I’m guessing are inflatable busts of the current rendition of Kreator’s mascot. I really wish more bands that have gone ampless on stage would do shit like this. There was a hiccup where the audio was completely cut out and Kreator continued to play for a time before giving up on finishing the song. Thankfully the situation was resolved quickly and the rest of the set went off without a hitch. 

Shout out to lead guitarist Sami’s Ibanez Destroyer with the quilt maple top finish. That guy can be depended on to wield some really cool axes by the by. I’m reminded of the “Enemy of God” video again cause I believe he’s playing a B.C. Rich Dagger hollow body with those cool dagger ‘f holes’ in that video. Not to mention the mother fucking Jackson Rhoads Bass in that same video! 

Testament definitely brings up good memories – I’d never seen them live until I was a grown ass man in that I at least had lived the requisite number of years but I was listening to their music in high school. I’m almost certain I was introduced to their early works in the truck cab of Ronnel of local thrash act Babilos. I mean the dude was the first of us to drive so naturally he picked the music. 

Photographer and my lovely spouse Courtney Ware and I are still huge fans of the ‘Formation of Damnation’ album which was the new release after I first became a fan. 

This tour itself is in celebration of Testament’s first full length releases ‘The Legacy’ and ‘The New Order’ which while not my favorite, early Testament records are without a doubt full of thrash metal classics such as “Into The Pit” and “Over the Wall”.

The latter of which was an invitation for people to crowd surf and I only remember seeing just one person do so all night. Shameful. 

One notable surprise was America’s Got Talent contestant and 11 year old metalhead Maya Neelakanton joining Testament on stage to perform “Curse of the Legions of Death”. Which is crazy impressive on its own but to learn the song and solo so quickly is the part I’m most jealous of. 

If you somehow missed this performance or her rendition of “Master of Puppets” on America’s Got Talent both are up on YouTube. Or perhaps my friendly editor will provide a link to her YouTube page where I found the Vegas footage. 

Testament has actually done something really cool in not limiting themselves to just celebrating one classic album but to play their first two albums start to finish. Now that I think about it, when I’ve seen bands play classic releases start to finish in the past they’ve often filled out the rest of their set with other popular songs from their discography. 

On a side note congrats to Eric Peterson on his Raiders guitar. Sadly the guitar in question was brought out on the stage near the end of the night so I don’t know if Courtney has captured many good pictures of the instrument and I didn’t find any online. 

…and now I want a Saints Guitar. Maybe I could customize an ESP Ltd guitar like the guys in Down did. I’m thinking of a custom Fleur-de-lis truss rod cover. Goddamnit – I just traded away my black and gold EC-1000T too. 

In closing, If they end up doing this again in the future I will be so down to see them perform my personal favorite early Testament albums ‘Practice What You Preach’ and ‘Souls of Black’! 

Live photos by Courtney Ware for ZrockR Magazine 2024 – All Rights Reserved.