THRASH OF THE TITANS

The Thrash of the Titans Tour made its way to Houston and I was not going to miss this one.  Headlined by TESTAMENT, they were bringing along a couple of heavy hitters with them, namely OVERKILL and DESTRUCTION.  The latter was supposed to be part of this year’s Hell’s Heroes festival but now I know why they cancelled.  I have seen OVERKILL on this tour a couple of times but that doesn’t matter as they always put on a great show.  This triple bill of thrash was not going to disappoint and the legions of headbangers came out in force on this Good Friday to show their support.

Opening up this metal mini-fest were German thrash legends DESTRUCTION.  Based on the number of fans wearing their older tour shirts, I knew they would get a hero’s welcome and the Houston crowd greeted them like conquering warriors.  Starting things off, they went all the way back to 1986’s “Eternal Devastation” for "Curse the Gods" and from the first note, they had the crowd going.  It was great to see younger fans really supporting DESTRUCTION as they are the one of the founders of German thrash.  Sticking with early material, they spent no time launching into "Death Trap" off their debut release.  Proving that they have not rested on their laurels, they performed "Nailed to the Cross" and "Thrash till Death" (this one was later in the set) from 2001’s “The Antichrist”.

This last year saw the release of “Birth of Malice” so you knew they were going to touch on that record.  Even though it was a short set, they gave us a double dose from that album with "Scumbag Human Race" and namesake track "Destruction" which closed out their set.  In between, they dug deep into their catalogue and ran through personal favorite “Mad Butcher” from their debut E.P. (my introduction to the band) and "Bestial Invasion" again from their debut record.  While they had limited time on stage, they made the most of it by giving us some old and some new so ultimately, we got a set of the best of both worlds.  Schmier and company proved that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Quickly changing over the stage set, OVERKILL hit the stage with the title track of their latest disk.  After so many years and 19 studio records, the band still manage to put out strong material.  This was in my top 10 of 2023 and it still remains a beast to this day.  Blitz and the boys do not disappoint!  "Rotten to the Core" follows quickly showing this Houston crowd that they were not going to let up for the duration of their show.  Just like the previous group, OVERKILL gave us a nice mix of old and new with "Bring Me the Night" and the title track from “Ironbound”.  MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball classic "Hello from the Gutter" drew a great response from us Houston metalheads with many of the younger fans acting like they lived through that awesome era. 

Sticking with some legacy material, "Deny the Cross" was put forth and it seemed a bit sacrilegious being that it was Good Friday and all but no matter, it is a great track.  After some older tunes, it was time to get something new so we got "The Surgeon" from their latest disk, thus proving that OVERKILL still has plenty left in the tank.  But alas, that was last of the new tunes as OVERKILL finished off their set with a couple of older chestnuts in “Elimination” and fan favorite “Fuck You”.  Although this was an opening set, the band managed to split the show almost evenly between old and new (some of it was new-ish) giving us a nice mix of material.  As a side note, former FEAR FACTORY bassist Christian Wolbers was filling in for D.D. Verni who wasn’t able to play on this tour.  While I wish D.D. was up on stage where he belongs, Christian did a great job and managed to headbang his way across every inch of the stage.

The anticipation for TESTAMENT was as thick as the fog permeating the stage.  They even had a white curtain holding the stage set-up a secret until the titans of thrash made sure that we were ready to see them in all their glory.  As the curtain fell, the band immediately launched into “Into the Pit,” opening with a surge of energy that set the tone for their performance.  Frontman Chuck Billy and his thrashing bandmates fed off the crowd’s energy, channeling it into a relentless, high-intensity performance.  After that quick jaunt down memory lane, TESTAMENT laid waste for a couple of more recent tunes "The Evil Has Landed" and "Henchmen Ride".  Like all of the bands on this tour, while there is a heritage to their music, they are still active recording musicians that are putting out quality product.  The next three tracks (which coincidently were also the first three tunes on the disk) were from their future classic “Para Bellum”.  "For the Love of Pain", "Infanticide A.I.", and "Shadow People" all proved to be worthy additions to their set and fit in nicely alongside their classics.

Keeping with newer tunes, “WWIII” came next from the equally great “Titans of Creation” album.  As the set progressed, the band delved into often overlooked tunes from records that came out during a period where metal (whether heavy or thrash) was not as popular.  Songs such as “Low,” “John Doe,” and “Native Blood” matched the intensity of the band’s more familiar material, sustaining the performance’s driving momentum.  Billy even made reference that they were performing deep cuts on this tour which is perfect for old-school fans like myself who have been following the band since their beginning.  “So Many Lies” stood out as a defining moment of the set, delivering a performance that proved pivotal to the night’s impact on me.  I loved that tune the first time I heard it and I was so happy that it made its way back into the set for this tour.  It separated a couple of songs from “Practice What You Preach”, namely "Sins of Omission" and MTV favorite “The Ballad”.

The show ended with “Electric Crown” and “Over the Wall”, the latter from their debut release almost book-ending the set with older tunes.  As I left the show with my head sufficiently banged and my ears ringing, I was reminded that I just witnessed three bands that not only hold a legacy (TESTAMENT pun not intended) but are still creating material that rivals some of their earlier works.  This is one of the best tours I have seen in recent years and it makes a strong case for more bands to adopt this triple bill package.  I would love to see the Thrash of the Titans tour make another go around as I would see this show over and over again.