After Brujeria, the insane pressure of the filled crowd continued right over to Testament, who were next on the Obscure Stage of Brutal Assault.

Over the past years I have thought that Testament shows have been a mixed lot, some good and some not so much, but since the release of their album The Formation Of Damnation it seems they can do nothing wrong. A spark of life have been lit, and over the last couple of shows it has spread like a wildfire which was now setting the old Jaromer army fort ablaze with a thrash inferno!
The band held its usual ultra-high energy level, but I was the most blown away by Paul Bostaph’s wild drumming.
The audience on their side was completely taken in by the show, and thrashed around the festival-ground like there was no tomorrow. Moshpits and Walls Of Death were to be found all over in a wild fray which made it clear that the old saying still holds true “you can’t keep a good band down”.

After seeing Testament at two festivals already this summer, as well as one in-house concert, the setlist wasn’t really a big surprise; yet still Chuck Billy managed to mistakenly announce More Than Meets The Eye as an old classic (the track is taken from their latest album!), but he was quickly corrected by Alex Skolnick.
The song Billy referred to was actually Burnt Offerings which would first appear much later in the set.
The title track of their latest album was once again chosen as the ending theme of the night, and as usual an enormous wall of death was played out in its honour. Imagine hundreds upon hundreds of warrior-clad eastern Europeans smashing ferociously into each other –a sight not easily topped as you can imagine!

Setlist (incomplete):

The Preacher
The New Order
Over The Wall
Practice What You Preach
More Than Meets The Eye
Burnt Offerings
Into The Pit
Disciples Of The Watch
D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
3 Days In Darkness
The Formation Of Damnation